As Director Townsend traveled across the state and met with employers from a wide range of industries, she consistently heard about the shortage of candidates with the right skills to fill their jobs. Closing the skills gap is a real problem needing to be solved. Critical action is needed to help today’s students prepare for the jobs needed tomorrow. It’s also crucial for employers to stretch beyond traditional pathways to find and develop the talent needed for them to prosper.
This is why the Governor’s 2016 Future Ready Iowa Summit is was held today at Hy-Vee Hall in Des Moines.
The summit highlighted the following topics:
- Working together more effectively to help Iowans acquire the skills to compete in a fast-changing economy which is driven by knowledge and technology
- Matching skills to meet business and industry demand
- Better communicating high-demand career opportunities to students, parents and educators
The director presented at the Governor's 2016 Future Ready Iowa Summit and the PowerPoint presentation is provided here for review.