Samuel Sherraden, a policy analyst for the Economic Growth Program at the New America Foundation, has written a thought-provoking commentary for CNN.com in which he asserts the green sector is simply too small — and too dependent on government subsidies — to make a meaningful short-term impact on the US economy.
And because the green [...]

Which parts of the United States will recover most rapidly from the drawn-out recession? Moody’s Economy.com has released a study that estimates the strongest future job growth will come in Colorado, Texas and three Northwest states: Washington, Idaho, and Oregon.
In the case of the northwestern states, the reason they got picked is because of their [...]

As the current recession continues, business incubators and accelerators have become increasingly important in helping communities and regions stabilize and even strengthen their economies. A textbook example comes from Spartanburg Community College in South Carolina, where a new accelerator has already had a major effect on its area. 
For a PDF of the case study click [...]

Tompkins Cortland Community College in Dryden, NY, contributes approximately $155 million to its local economy every year, according to a new EMSI socioeconomic impact study. TC3, part of the State University of New York (SUNY) system, has experienced a huge spike in enrollment — a trend expected to continue through 2009-2010.
“Having the president of the [...]

Last week a U.S. Senate subcommittee heard testimony regarding the modernization of the Workforce Investment Act. Notable testimony came from Jane Oates, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Labor, and various workforce development and education officials from across the country who discussed how the current system needs to be fine-tuned to meet the needs of [...]

A report released this week as a joint effort by four organizations shows that workers lack the basic and applied skills that employers need. A survey of 217 employers by the American Society of Training and Development (ASTD), the Conference Board, Corporate Voices for Working Families, and the Society for Human Resource Management analyzed employer-based [...]

Thrive, the north central Ohio component of the Ohio Skills Bank, recently debuted a new web site that offers a variety of career resources for students, dislocated/incumbent workers, and others interested in a regional look at jobs, industries, and specific programs.
The site provides a portal for regional career pathways in health care and a soon-to-be-available [...]

A new report, called “Charting a Path: An Exploration of the Statewide Career Pathway Efforts in Arkansas, Kentucky, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin,” has been put out by the Seattle Jobs Initiative. Supported by the Working Poor Families Project and Seattle Office of Economic Development, the study defines career pathways as: “… a series of connected [...]

Time Magazine is the latest publication to jump in the fray highlighting how community colleges can be a crucial cog in helping the country dig out of the recession. Time released a lengthy story this week (“Can Community Colleges Save the U.S. Economy”) that goes in depth on how quickly CCs can get students ready [...]

President Obama is slated to be at Macomb Community College in Michigan today, where he’s set to outline the details of a $12 billion plan to bolster community colleges. The lion’s share of the 10-year initiative, according to The Wall Street Journal, is $9 billion that “will be used to award grants through an ‘access [...]