Vermont Business Magazine The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation (BDCC) has received a Regional Workforce Partnership grant from the Vermont Department of Labor to further support their newest workforce development program, the BDCC Cluster Roundtable Initiative. The grant is for $9,000, and will support the program for the upcoming fiscal year.
The Roundtable Initiative program convenes business leaders by sector to discuss the needs and goals of their respective companies and industries. The purpose of the group is to identify existing resources, available and relevant to all participants, that will best help address any obstacles to economic growth, including but not limited to workforce development initiatives and support. The first meeting convened leaders in Windham County’s Advanced Manufacturing industry and took place in early March; the Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation partnered with Community College of Vermont to share information about their Certified Production Technician credential, a TAACCCT funded 28-week course designed to upskill incumbent or trade adjusted workers looking to enter the manufacturing industry. Business & Community Outreach Manager, Michael Keogh, presented the unique and effective delivery model to Roundtable attendees.
One major employer, G.S Precision, immediately seized the opportunity to leverage this program to upskill and recruit new and incumbent employees; the BDCC, CCV, and G.S Precision have further partnered with the Vermont Department of Labor to support marketing and enrollment efforts. A similar approach was taken to the Deerfield and West River Valleys, where Executive Director Adam Grinold and Workforce and Education Specialist Alex Beck presented a Lyndon State College Hospitality and Tourism Certification program to the Wilmington-Dover Bi-Town meeting. This group will work to implement an innovative delivery model of Lyndon State College’s already excellent certification programming.
The Southeastern Vermont Economic Development Strategies (SeVEDS) organization, an affiliate of BDCC, conducted the region’s first ever Comprehensive Economic Development Strategies (CEDS) in 2013. This process helped reveal the need to increase the size and quality of the workforce and has been a priority focus of the BDCC and SeVEDS- led initiatives for regional economic development and planning activities ever since. At these meetings, attendees are oriented to the workforce development programming the BDCC has developed under the SeVEDS led workforce initiative, which have been established in collaboration with the secondary and postsecondary education system within Windham Region. These programs include the Fast Tracks to Success High School Program, Six College Collaborative Internship Program, and Southern Vermont Young Professionals Program.
Sector specific meetings will occur quarterly, with the next Manufacturers Roundtable meeting occurring in mid-late June. The first Technology and Communications Roundtable will be held in late July, followed by the first Green Economy Roundtable in August.
The BDCC is the Windham Region’s Economic Development Organization, tasked with creating and maintaining a thriving business community. SeVEDS, an affiliate organization of the BDCC, is a grassroots effort with the goals to: reverse the population decline, increase the number of good paying jobs, improve the quality of the workforce, and raise household income relative to the surrounding areas.
SeVEDS contracts with the BDCC to staff and implement its mission. For more information visit www.brattleborodevelopment.com. Please contact [email protected] or [email protected] for more information about participating in this program.
Source: Brattleboro, Vermont, 5/23/2016 — The Brattleboro Development Credit Corporation