Significant changes may be ahead positively affecting Missouri workers and businesses.
In his state of the state address delivered Wednesday, January 16th, Governor Parson announced he will be making several changes to the Department of Economic Development through Executive Order and will be seeking changes in the programs surrounding workforce development through legislation. In addition, his proposed budget will pursue increased funding in fiscal year 2020 to help these efforts. The Governor remains committed to his previously announced top two priorities: Workforce Development and Infrastructure.
So how can Missouri businesses benefit? Politics aside, if the Governor is successful in achieving his multistep approach to bettering our workforce, Missouri businesses should see improvements in skill levels, availability, and production of the state workforce. In addition, those delivering the services will be encouraged to break down the protective silos surrounding their delivery systems and work together to achieve “best practice” workforce training.
In the coming weeks, we’ll hear a lot more about the Department of Economic Development’s Regional Engagement Division designed to bring better service to a wide spectrum of customers. And, we’ll learn about MoExcels, Fast Tack, Missouri One Start, and the Office of Apprenticeship. Each of these efforts will have a specific purpose designed to better the workforce delivery system and, therefore, the workforce.
We will be monitoring these efforts and plugging in where we can to help our area address our workforce needs.
