www.HartfordBusiness.com • June 17, 2019 • Hartford Business Journal 3
Newsmakers
EDITORIAL
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Paul Holzer | Executive Director, Achieve Hartford!
W
hen Paul Holzer moved from a middle-
class school district to a wealthy one in
high school, he was struck by how closely
linked achievement appeared to be with opportuni-
ty, and the power teachers have in fostering growth.
Now-a-days, Holzer is executive direc-
tor of Achieve Hartford!, a nonprofit group of
private-sector business,
philanthropic and higher-
education leaders focused
on closing the achievement
gap for Hartford students in
high school and college.
A small operation with
four full-time staffers and
about $600,000 in annual
revenues, Achieve Hartford!
aims to have a voice in Hart-
ford's education policy and programs.
What unique challenges do you see in the work-
force pipeline from Hartford's public schools?
The biggest challenge is the lack of academic
preparation that plagues the local workforce
pipeline coming out of the schools and heading
into local post-secondary education and training.
Because of opportunity gaps related to pov-
erty, students arrive in kindergarten already far
behind their peers statewide and globally, and
Hartford as an entire community has not figured
out how to help kids catch up academically, de-
spite robust investments in education.
The second biggest challenge, we believe,
relates more to resource coordination than
resource development — meaning that if public
and private investments in youth could become
more aligned, we could see more return in the
form of more students achieving.
What are the most promising developments
you've seen in workforce development from
Hartford's high schools?
The National Academy Foundation (NAF)
model that is thriving in three local high schools
is very promising because it invites private-
sector leadership into the school in the form of a
privately funded staff person in charge of getting
students ready for and participating in work-
based learning experiences.
It also includes an industry advisory board full
of committed companies willing to provide those
work-based learning experiences and cultivate a
local talent pipeline.
Achieve Hartford! focuses on local education issues.
Why should the business community be interested
in this topic?
The business community in particular must
see beyond the tax incentives in evaluating long-
term reasons for doing business in Connecticut.
They must see the potential in our urban cities
to produce a viable talent pool for their company
in five, 10 and 15 years, when the Baby Boomers
are all retired.
In addition, people want to live in a metropoli-
tan region because of the condition of the city in
the center, not despite of it, and without a local
talent pool, Hartford will still be stuck recruiting a
lot of its talent from out of state and selling itself
as halfway between New York and Boston.
VERBATIM
Megadeal fallout
"The combination of United Technologies and Raytheon will define the future of
aerospace and defense. By joining forces, we will have unsurpassed technology and
expanded R&D capabilities."
United Technologies Corp. Chairman and CEO Greg Hayes trying to sell
investors and others on the UTC-Raytheon merger. The combined company
would relocate its headquarters to Greater Boston.
Paul Holzer
Celebrate Hartford.
creativity.
Celebrate
Join us this June, as we celebrate Hartford
Arts Month with hundreds of performances,
exhibitions, classes, festivals and activities
ta'in# place throu#hout the month!
Be part of the celebration!
LetsGoArts.or#/ArtsMonth
brought to you by
Arts
Hartford
Month
