[B]ENNINGTON — Years of thinking collaboratively has led to a burst of workforce development and education programming in the Bennington area.
Jeannie Jenkins, coordinator of academic services with Community College of Vermont in Bennington, said cooperative efforts have long been common among local organizations but that the creation of the Bennington Economic Development Partners five years ago greatly accelerated that process.
Jenkins is chairwoman of the partners’ workforce and education group — one of six formed under the partners initiative. The community college is among a number of departments or organizations sending representatives to monthly meetings to share information, expertise and ideas.
“There were several groups that had overlapping memberships that were doing workforce development and education in the county,” Jenkins said. “So we have actually combined all those groups.”
Other partner entities include the Better Bennington Corp., the downtown promotion group; the Bennington Area Chamber of Commerce; Bennington County Industrial Corp.; Bennington County Regional Commission; the town through its Selectboard and zoning and development officials; the state Department of Labor; Southwest Vermont Career Development Center; Southwestern Vermont Medical Center; and local colleges, school districts and individuals.
“I think a successful strategy we have been following is that everyone takes ownership of building this (workforce and education) continuum, from elementary school up through adult population,” Jenkins added. “Anyone who wants to join in is welcome. We all take ownership over pieces of it, but all help out, and someone takes the lead in each one of these initiatives.”
The list of initiatives includes a nationally recognized certified production technician program to train workers for advanced manufacturing employment. Recruitment for the program is through the community college, the Department of Labor, the career center, the staffing firm Adecco and participating local manufacturers, Jenkins said.
She said both current and aspiring manufacturing employees have been involved in the certification program, which is offered at no cost through federal grant funding. “It is intended to be a pipeline to manufacturers,” she said, but some companies also send their new employees for the certification.
Workforce and education initiatives have sought to not only bring together all the organizations involved in the field in Bennington County but also to allow more funding options, she said.
“The reason (the workforce and education group) has been successful is because it has many partners, and all bring funding and all bring sweat equity to the table,” Jenkins said. “That’s really how we have supported ourselves.”
Bill Colvin, who directs Bennington County Industrial Corp.’s development activities, said the group — which operates under the development entity — “is among the most successful (working groups) we’ve had. I hear that all the time from employers. I think they have created some really model programs.”
Fostering a trained and educated workforce “is one of the core challenges we face” in promoting economic development, Colvin said.
Among other programs enhanced by the collaborative efforts, Jenkins said, are college internship opportunities throughout the county.
Efforts are focused on expanding the number of businesses involved and finding a mechanism to create paid internships, as well as on expanding the program to out-of-school job seekers. The latter is the subject of a pilot program this year.
State Rep. Bill Botzow, D-Pownal, who is chairman of the House Committee on Commerce and Economic Development, also attends the monthly partners sessions.
“They do accomplish many of the goals they set out to do,” Botzow said.
As an example, he said, businesses in the past were often in the dark on how to set up an internship program. “Now they know how to actually do them,” he said.
On the legislative front, Botzow said he is hopeful that an ongoing Legislature-directed state review to identify obstacles to enhancing the state’s regional technical centers and suggest improvements will produce significant results.
Several workforce education programs focus on local high school students, Jenkins said.
“There is a real emphasis on 10th grade,” she said, with an annual Sophomore Career Summit, held in April at Bennington College. Students can meet professionals in a variety of fields.
In November, to help sophomores better prepare for the spring career summit, Jenkins said, the first Reality Fair is planned at Southern Vermont College.
Students will work with people in the field they are interested in, she said, “and will be given ‘a job,’ and education requirements, along with a month’s ‘salary.’”
Then the students will have to make realistic spending choices — for food, housing, transportation, electronics and other expenses, so they get an idea how their choices would fit within their salary in the real world.
That program is being launched this year with the Mount Anthony Union High School 10th-graders.
The partners group meets on the first Monday of each month at the CCV offices in Bennington. More information is available online.
