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Industry & Education Connection: Event Recap
GNDC recently hosted its first-ever Industry & Education Connection, an exclusive networking event bringing together Career and Technical Education (CTE) Center Directors from across North Dakota with GNDC members: Workforce Policy Council participants, Cornerstone members, and GNDC Board members.
Sponsored by College Board and CareerViewXR, the event was designed to strengthen connections between the educators preparing North Dakota’s future workforce and the employers who depend on that talent pipeline. As workforce remains one of the most pressing issues facing businesses across the state, creating opportunities for direct conversation between industry and education leaders is increasingly important.
The event opened with remarks from GNDC President & CEO Arik Spencer and Matthew Chaussee, CEO and Co-Founder of CareerViewXR, followed by facilitated overviews from North Dakota Department of Career and Technical Education Director Wayde Sick. Attendees also heard directly from CTE leaders about their programs, priorities, and the realities they are seeing across their regions.
The room also included key workforce partners, including Job Service North Dakota Interim Executive Director Phil Davis and Director Sick, showcasing an overarching connection on how education, workforce development, and state agencies are working together.
The value of the event was found in the conversations that followed. Industry leaders had the opportunity to better understand the work taking place within CTE centers, while educators gained insight into workforce needs, hiring challenges, and industry priorities.
Following the event, Chaussee shared:“We had an incredible opportunity to connect with education leaders from across the state who are charged with the incredibly important task of educating our future workforce. The event provided an opportunity to get to know each other on a personal level and discuss big picture ideas, with conversations guided by aligned interests and opportunities rather than constrained by a meeting agenda.
The conversations were incredibly energizing and helped build relationships that will result in meaningful collaborative action across education and industry to support North Dakota’s workforce needs.”
The discussions throughout the event reinforced the value of creating space for industry, education, and workforce partners to engage directly with one another. Based on the feedback received from participants and partners, GNDC anticipates facilitating similar opportunities in the future to continue strengthening these relationships and supporting alignment between workforce needs and workforce preparation across North Dakota.