We have all heard numerous policy reports that predict a grim future for U.S. competitiveness due to the lack of workers well-educated in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. A new report from the Urban Institute, titled “Into the Eye of the Storm: Assessing the Evidence on Science and Engineering Education, Quality, and Workforce Demand,” disputes these conclusions, arguing that we have an oversupply of science & engineering (S&E) grads and that American high school students are performing at an internationally competitive level (though certainly not an exceptional one) in math and science.

Instead of being concerned about the general state of S&E education in the U.S., the report argues, we should be focused on more fine-grained policy (driven by more fine-grained analyses that have yet to be done) to improve outcomes for specific student populations, or to target real shortages in specific industries and occupations.

The report was also discussed on National Public Radio this past Friday.

A new study paints a grim picture of CA’s labor shortage in health care.

California needs to act quickly and dramatically to solve a serious health-care worker shortage, according to a study released today. Researchers with the Oakland-based Campaign for College Opportunity concluded that California’s 109 community colleges in particular need to expand classes in nursing and other allied health fields.

The shortage will reach crisis levels once baby boomers start retiring en masse in about five years, noted the study, which was funded by Kaiser Permanente, the state’s largest private health-care employer. There are too few nurses and medical technicians.

Read the article here.

According to EMSI’s occupational projections, California’s top ten in-demand health care occupations (ranked by total new job growth projected for 2007-12) are

1. Registered nurses (about 36,000 new jobs and 59,000 replacement jobs)
2. Medical assistants (about 11,500 new jobs and 19,000 replacement jobs)
3. Nursing aides, orderlies, and attendants (about 11,000 new jobs and 18,000 replacement jobs)
4. Home health aides (about 10,000 new jobs and 12,000 replacement jobs)
5. Dental assistants (about 9,000 new jobs and 14,000 replacement jobs)
6. Dental hygenists (about 5,000 new jobs and 5,500 replacement jobs)
7. Physicians and surgeons (about 4,700 new jobs and 5,800 replacement jobs)
8. Licensed practical and vocational nurses (about 4,500 new jobs and 11,000 replacement jobs)
9. Medical secretaries (about 2,800 new jobs and 8,000 replacement jobs)
10. Physical therapists (about 2,400 new jobs and 2,500 replacement jobs)

Meanwhile, EMSI expects the state’s fastest-growing age groups to be in the 55-74 and 85+ year ranges, resulting in what the article describes as a “double whammy” of retiring health care workers and a larger senior citizen population in need of health care.

Demographic data suggest that the influx of Hispanic and Asian immigrants may well be the key to solving the worker shortage.  According to EMSI demographic projections, these populations are expected to grow by 11% in the next five years while growth of white non-Hispanics is expected to be basically flat. And the Hispanic and Asian populations are also overwhelmingly younger than other groups, with an estimated 81% under the age of 50 and 51% under the age of 30 in 2007 (compare to white non-Hispanics at 62% under 50 and 34% under 30).

Since 8 of the top 10 growing occupations require 2 years or less of postsecondary education (the exceptions being physicians/surgeons and physical therapists), it seems more than feasible for community colleges to rapidly recruit and train new health care workers from these populations. However, as the above article points out, many colleges are having trouble meeting student demand, with waiting lists for programs such as nursing. The message to California’s educational system is clear.

The Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration has released a 90+ page document detailing the various public and private workforce information sources available to researchers. Subtitled “Decision Making Assistance for Regional Economic Development,” the catalogue provides brief introductions to dozens of sources, along with comparison tables to help users identify the right source for their needs.

EMSI’s Strategic Advantage is highlighted on page 90 of the report, in the category “Data Integration and Analysis Tools and Services.”

Read the press release or download the catalogue in PDF.

The Times (UK) reports that research councils in the United Kingdom will now take into account the economic impact of proposed research in order to make funding decisions. While the councils say they have a broad definition of “economic impact,” many researchers are worried that potentially useful and ground-breaking research will go unfunded because it cannot demonstrate an “immediate or obvious” impact. Read the full story.

On this side of the Atlantic, the Association of University Research Parks will reveal the economic impact of North American research parks at its annual conference on October 24-26 in St. Louis. Read the press release.

This is exciting news for the workforce investment system. Read about it here.

The NFWS is a $50 million funding collaborative that aims to strengthen and expand workforce partnerships over five years. The Council on Foundations, Jobs for the Future, and The United Way of America are national strategic partners that will assist in raising awareness of the NFWS, implementation of the initiative, and development of new sites.

The NFWS has three primary goals:

• Create new opportunities for low-wage workers to obtain better paying jobs and careers through education and training;
• Meet employers’ critical needs for skilled workers by improving their ability to attract, retain, and advance employees; and
• Expand resources and improve the efficiency of the workforce investment system, including engaging employers in the effective design of workforce partnership services and shaping state and regional alignment of workforce policy and programs.

Washington State is offering regions the chance to apply for five industry-cluster-based “Innovation Partnership Zone” designations, each of which comes with  $1 million in grants to create a research park.

Minnesota is jump-starting rural economic development with an initiative called SEED (Strategic Entrepreneurial Economic Development), which is focused on small business creation.

San Francisco has spent 30 years developing a biotech / life sciences cluster, and after these decades of investment and struggle, is poised to reap the benefits.

Thanks to EDPro for rounding up these and other great stories.

Corporate incentive packages have long been a standard economic development tool, but regional leaders are giving them increasing scrutiny following well-publicized reports of incentive deals gone bad (see, for example, the regular “Incentive Watch” entries on Ed Morrison’s EDPro blog).

Now Bob Orr, a North Carolina gubernatorial candidate, is promising to slash generous tax and cash incentives (especially involving intra-state competition for businesses), increase the transparency of the incentive process, and divert more state funding specifically to employer-customized workforce training.

RALEIGH, N.C. — An end to economic incentives programs and more money for worker training are among the goals of Bob Orr, a former state Supreme Court justice who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor.

Orr, who is leading a lawsuit challenging economic incentives for Dell Inc., said Monday that if elected he’ll work to bar local governments from using special payments or tax breaks to lure existing companies elsewhere in the state to relocate. County and city officials also would have to make public more details about incentive deals before they are considered, he said.

Link to article.

The State Science and Technology Institute (SSTI) is holding their annual conference on October 18-19 in Baltimore. The mission of SSTI is to support professionals in technology-based economic development (TBED).

Interesting  sessions include “Community Colleges’ Role in TBED,” “The Future of University Tech Transfer,” “What’s Exciting about Manufacturing,” and more. The 2007 Excellence in TBED Awards will also be presented.

EMSI will be there to demonstrate its integrated tools and data, which support strategic partnerships among colleges, workforce boards, and economic development groups.

It appears that Virginia is the latest state to explore initiatives to bridge workforce, education, and economic development.

Virginia’s community college system should coordinate the state’s far-flung effort at workforce development, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine said today.

Currently, Kaine said, 22 state agencies are involved in workforce development. . . .

Kaine made the proposal at the fall conference of the Virginia Economic Developers Association.

Link

An article at Inside Higher Ed profiles the president of Lord Fairfax Community College in Virginia, who appears to be breaking new ground in private fundraising efforts. Its goal for 2007 alone is to raise $1 million, while its foundation already has $9 million in assets. The college is just beginning to explore the potential of its large alumni network.

“The fastest growing area in community college development right now is in the alumni affairs area,” says Steven Budd, president of New Hampshire Community Technical College at Claremont and also the board president for the Council for Research Development, an affiliate organization of the American Association of Community Colleges focused on fund raising. “Alumni programs all over the country are really being beefed up.”

And as such, the role of the community college president is changing, in terms of how presidents spend their time, why they’re hired and even how long they spend in the job. Budd, for instance, came to his current college by way of an assistant vice president for advancement position at Massachusetts’ Springfield Technical Community College. More and more, he says, institutional development is becoming a pathway to the two-year-college presidency.

At EMSI/CCbenefits, we’ve found that one of the best ways for a college to increase its visibility for fundraising is to conduct a college impact study, which measures the socioeconomic benefits that the college provides to its entire community—including students, taxpayers, and businesspeople.