Partnering With Business

There are many paths to one destination: Your Success.

One of the biggest challenges to growing your business and staying competitive is finding and hiring qualified workers who can contribute immediately, and grow into a successful career at a company. Businesses are working together with partners from education, workforce, and economic development to develop Colorado’s Talent Pipeline.

Colorado has garnered national attention through its implementation of sector strategies as a vehicle for alignment between industry and workforce, education and economic development. Sector strategies include sector partnerships and industry intermediaries.
30, the number of sector partnerships in Colorado

These partnerships are industry- and region-specific, led by business, in collaboration with economic development, education, and workforce development. Partnerships exist across a range of industries and regions. One example is the long-standing Greater Metro Denver Healthcare Partnership, which continues to grow and explore strategies around which occupations are most in demand and the specific competencies those occupations require. Check out the partnerships through the interactive map below.

BUSINESSES BENEFIT

Businesses gain resources to grow a local workforce. Sector partnerships create highly customized responses to industry needs, focus on opportunities within a specific industry, and provide a setting to engage with public partners.

450+

Colorado businesses involved in a sector partnership.

81%

of active and emerging sector partnerships increased collaboration across partners on talent development over the past year.

workers benefit

Job-aligned training programs are being developed

With both employers and educators at the table, partnerships are more effectively developing new training and/or education programs, or are continually making improvements to existing programs.

Deeper connections made between critical partners

For example, through the Pikes Peak Manufacturing Sector Partnership, a partnership between Pikes Peak Community College (PPCC) and Springs Fabrication has led to a welding training program. The actual training is being done in a special facility inside Springs Fab that both Springs Fab employees and PPCC students can use.

Fast-track courses are being offered

Intensive "fast-track" courses are also being developed in various regions to train workers for immediate industry needs. For instance, the Upper Arkansas Regional Health and Wellness Sector Partnership's regional workforce center and Pueblo Community College have collaborated to develop a fast-track certified nurse aide (CNA) training program.

"We found that using the suggested agenda and format that we learned during the convener trainings led by the CWDC resulted in a truly business-led meeting. The process that we used was simple but truly effective in allowing the health care professionals to focus on opportunities that could make a huge difference in their industry."

– Lynn Vosler, Director, Workforce Development, Front Range Community College

"Our strength as one manufacturing voice is tremendous. We are working together and the initiatives our manufacturers are asking for are getting done."

– a NoCO Manufacturing Partnership business member

"The training we have received thus far has been excellent. We followed your ‘recipe’ and things happened as you said they would."

– Yvonne Meyers, Health Systems Director, Columbine Health Systems

"This is a collaborative group that gets things done in our city and the space of the sector team provides a neutral environment that allows for both community health and business partnerships."