Students meet employers at the Career Quest event, another education/employment program of the First Tennessee Development District.
A regional Education to Employment Summit (E2E) is being held today at Grace Meadows Farm in Washington County, Tenn. The event is designed to bring together k-12 and post-secondary educational leaders, business and industry leaders, economic and workforce development professionals, and government leaders to discuss each party’s role in developing the workforce pipeline.
“A strong, skilled workforce is one of the top three things businesses thinking about investing in an area want to know exists in a region,” said Lottie Ryans, director of Workforce and Literacy Initiatives for the First Tennessee Development District, which organized the event. “They understand the region will be where a workforce comes from, so knowing that everyone is working together to build that pipeline is critical.”
Attendees will hear about best practices in the region that are already bridging schools and businesses. Local business and industry leaders will share what they need to be successful and how k-12 and post-secondary can help them. Deane Foote, principal of Foote Consulting will be the keynote speaker and share lessons from his decades of experience in site selection working with businesses including Walmart and Coca-Cola.
Additionally, Foote will speak to the importance of the ACT Work Ready Community certification, which all eight counties in Northeast Tennessee are working to achieve.
