League for Innovation in the Community College Spring 2020 | Page 12

will require a traditional college degree, according to the
National Skills Coalition. Of the top 50 high-demand careers,
only six (12 percent) require a four-year degree. These data
show that industry must work more closely with community
college partners to strategically position them to provide the
cornerstone for workforce and economic development models
going forward.
Together, we must drive greater career awareness of all
industries among students, even those as early as middle
school, so they can identify career pathways that match their
interests. We must give them, and their families, the hope and
support they need to complete high school and make informed
training and education decisions to secure rewarding careers.
The Tucson, Arizona, community is coming together to launch
its first comprehensive centralized workforce development
and talent optimization solution. This holistic end-to-end model
connects and integrates existing workforce development
ecosystem resources to provide a trusted and unbiased
universal hub to support students, job seekers, and employers
across all industries.
In spring 2019, for example, the Tucson Metro Chamber
brought the right people, processes, and technology together
around a unified goal to create a better model to feed military-
trained talent into high-demand aerospace jobs. As part of
this holistic ecosystem model, the Chamber hosted a week-
long Aerospace & Defense Workforce Innovation Summit with
corporate partners (e.g., Raytheon, Cisco), higher education
leaders, and community college training partners. The Summit
concluded with a two-day demonstration that used the skills-
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matching technology of PipelineAZ to pre-match local talent,
including transitioning military members and veterans, with
high-demand positions in aerospace and defense, resulting
in 166 interviews in 11 hours and a 68 percent rate of hire. The
Chamber, Futures, Inc., Pima Community College, and other
Together, we must drive greater career awareness of
all industries among students, even those as early as
middle school, so they can identify career pathways that
match their interests.”
League for Innovation in the Community College Innovatus