Commerce Corridor of Southeast Missouri to help prepare workers for technology jobs

By Scott Sattler

Special to business today

When looking at the Southeast Region, you may not think about all the technology in use in every thing you do. What is starting to hit home is how much more technology we will be using tomorrow.

Just recently, the water company was installing radio controlled water meters on my house. Now they can read my water usage by just driving by. I didn’t even think that was possible a few years ago. Think of all the information technology used to make that work. The technician to install it, someone to program the computer readers and if something goes wrong, a technician to fix it.

It has been said, there are five new jobs created every day. Technology is changing at a rapid pace. We must ask what are we doing as a region to develop the talent of our future workforce. One of the initiatives that will help to develop our current and emerging talent is the Workforce Innovation and Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative. This is an initiative designed to promote transformational regional economic development through the integration of education, workforce development and innovative business strategies.

In order to look at technological jobs that will be needed in the region, we have to look at where we are at now. What are the resources we currently have that we can build upon? What are the resources we don’t have? These are questions which must be asked and answered. The business community is a key part in the development of the strategies, because they will have to adapt to the new technology. They will need to look at their long range goals and think about skills sets the future workforce will need for them.

There is a need to work on starting early in the development of our talented youth. We must educate them about the skills which will be required of them to help build their communities and region. One of these programs is Project Lead the Way. Project Lead the Way focuses on problem solving and technical skills.

Teachers from local schools are trained to instruct these courses. Students take the classes as electives in their high schools. In combination with their own required high school mathematics and science courses, students are introduced to the scope, rigor and discipline of engineering prior to entering college. However, those not intending to pursue college will benefit greatly from the knowledge and logical thought processes which result from taking some or all the courses provided in the curriculum.

Businesses want a workforce that is multi-skilled problem solvers and when Project Lead the Way is used in our local K-12 and postsecondary institutions the training will be started. This is a long range initiative and will take everyone in the community working collaboratively to pull it off.

The Southeast Region is a great place to live and we have an opportunity to be competitive in the global economy. I look forward to the challenge ahead of us.

Scott Sattler is the manager of Business & Industry Services for the Workforce Investment Board of Southeast Missouri.