Workforce preparedness in High Point
Last month, High Point City Council approved spending $60,000 to $70,000 on a study by Greensboro-based management consultants The Herman Group of how well prepared city residents are for available jobs.
The council also appointed an oversight committee to guide the progress of the study. The committee held its first meeting Tuesday, which we were unable to squeeze into the paper due to space constraints and news about Hurricane Katrina and the approval of the state lottery.
Here's a quick look at the highlights of the meeting...
David Wall, a former City Council member and the committee's co-chairman, sees the study's purpose as providing a snapshot of residents education and training levels versus the needs of local businesses in hopes of identifying where the gaps are.
The report will serve as a basis for a High Point Economic Development Corp. plan to attract more jobs and businesses to the city.
Education and training are being defined broadly, ranging from neonatal care - which can affect a child's ability to learn - to retraining programs for workers who have lost their jobs in fields such as furniture manufacturing and textiles.
As of Tuesday, the consultants had interviewed 38 people for the study, and were planning to set up several focus groups, including one of small-business owners. The consultants hope to get beyond "those whose names appear in the paper all time" in their interviews, said Roger Herman, The Herman Group's CEO.
He expects to spend another two to three weeks interviewing people and gathering data before beginning to prepare a final report, which should be presented in mid-October.
Herman said some interviewees had expressed the perception that High Point is a second-class community, but what he's seen and heard so far "doesn't support that second-class notion."
Some committee members then expressed concern about the report glossing over the city's problems, which Herman said wouldn't happen.
"It'll be balanced," he said.
Mayor Becky Smothers said the report needs to be an unvarnished look at the city's strengths and weaknesses.
"We are strong enough and have sufficient character to look at ourselves honestly," she said.
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