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Regional Workforce Strategies Initiative - Invitation from Secretary Bump

May 2008

Dear Colleague;

I am pleased to invite you to participate in our new regional workforce development initiative. Working Together: A Massachusetts Regional Workforce Strategies Initiative is a critical next step toward strengthening our economy by creating opportunities for workers to gain the skills they need to succeed and by building a high performance workforce system that will create pipelines for workers to meet the needs of businesses in each region of the Commonwealth.

This statewide initiative will bring leaders in business, education, government, and workforce development together to use newly expanded regional labor market demand and supply data to align the Commonwealth's workforce and education strategies and goals with the needs of businesses in every region of the Commonwealth.

The result will be regionally-based concrete plans and partnerships that will fill jobs that are in-demand in each region of the state and develop long-term pathways to the skills and opportunities that lead to success in our economy.

The highlight of this initiative will be a series of regional workforce summit meetings sponsored by EOLWD and Commonwealth Corporation, in partnership with Chair Frederick W. Clark and Commissioner Patricia Plummer and the Department of Higher Education, and Secretary Daniel O'Connell and the Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. These summits will be held throughout the state beginning May 14th in the North Shore region.

Paul Harrington, Associate Director of the Center for Labor Market Studies from Northeastern University, will be joining us at each summit to present regional data on labor market hiring and vacancy trends, labor force demographic trends and supply trends from educational institutions in each region.

The first four regional meetings scheduled for the spring 2008 are:

• North Shore: May 14PthP from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the Salem Five in Salem
• Berkshire County: June 13PthP from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in North Adams
• Hampden County: June 18PthP from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Western New England College in Springfield
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• Merrimack Valley and Greater Lowell: June 26PthP from 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Riverwalk Conference Center in Lawrence

In the fall, summits will take place in the Southeast, Franklin-Hampshire Counties, Greater Boston and Worcester/Central Mass.

This initiative is an important part of the Patrick Administration's comprehensive strategy to grow our economy and create job opportunities.

I invite you to participate in these upcoming strategy discussions, and I hope you will extend this invitation to members of your organization. We have enclosed a flyer which provides information on the times and locations of the upcoming regional events for you to share broadly.

I look forward to beginning this important conversation with business, education, community and workforce leaders to ensure that Massachusetts continues to be home to the highest skilled workforce in the nation.

Sincerely,

Suzanne M. Bump
Secretary

Official Letter from Secretary Bump