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Talk on Solving the Employment and Skills Crisis

10/30/2018 @ 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

Free

Business consultant Edward E. Gordon will discuss “Future Jobs: Solving the Employment and Skills Crisis,” which is the title of his most recent book, on Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 6 p.m. in Muskegon Community College’s Stevenson Center Room 1100.

The event, which is free and open to the public, is sponsored by the Muskegon Think Tank and Muskegon Community College.

Gordon has consulted with leaders in business, education, government and non-profits for 50 years. His book, which earned a 2015 Independent Publishers Award, is the culmination of his work as a visionary who applies a multi-disciplinary approach to today’s complex workforce needs and economic development issues.

The founder and president of Imperial Consulting Corporation in Chicago, Gordon’s clients have included Fortune 500 companies, the Federal Reserve, universities, government agencies, and professional and trade associations. As a human capital management expert, he is an internationally recognized authority on how training, education, talent growth, and career planning relate to business and economic development. As a writer, researcher, speaker, and consultant, he has helped shape policy and programs that advance business and regional development.

Gordon contends that a jobs and skills gap continues to grow across the U.S., at the same time that technology and global business practices have continuously raised the employee knowledge bar for most jobs. But he adds that the education-to-employment system remains unchanged and asks why 30 million Americans are sitting on the job sidelines, while over 9 million U.S. jobs are vacant.

To create more skilled talent urgently needed for the jobs of today and tomorrow, Gordon draws upon his research for his latest book. He focuses on how broad public-private partnerships are spearheading cross-sector initiatives. These Regional Talent Innovation Networks (RETAINs) are restructuring regional talent-creation systems.

His presentation includes examples of promising RETAINs in which businesses, community colleges, non-profits and other community groups have formed collaborative programs to equip students with the education and skills needed for 21st-century careers, as well as to retrain workers with the specific skills needed by regional employers.

Gordon is the author or co-author of 21 books. He has been quoted on or featured in major media venues including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, The Futurist, the PBS News Hour, the CBS Network’s Early Show, and CNN.

For more information on the lecture, please contact Dennis Kirksey, the Muskegon Think Tank chair, at (231) 578-2497.

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