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11 | DOING BUSINESS IN CONNECTICUT | 2018 2018 | DOING BUSINESS IN CONNECTICUT | 11 Building a Pipeline Public-private partnerships and innovation are driving workforce development By Matthew Broderick At the end of April, Cliff Thermer, chair of the Department of Business, Management and Advanced Manufacturing at Goodwin College, saw 20 students graduate from the school's manufacturing program. Another 15, he suspects, will graduate in August. With its six-month certificate programs and degree programs in advanced manufacturing, Goodwin is among several institutions – including the state's community college system – that are partnering with local manufacturers to build a pipeline of talent for a sector where jobs and technical skills are in high demand. As the state seeks to strategically grow key sectors of its economy, public- private partnerships and investment in workforce development are becoming increasingly important. Connecticut faces the dual challenges of replacing the skills of a graying workforce and the net loss of college-educated graduates to large cities like Boston. "Industries [here] realize they have to be an active and pro-active part of finding their next workforce," Thermer said. "We're building a pathway to employment where employers, our partners, are coming to meet our students face-to-face, interviewing them and recruiting them from their course work," which is aligned to specific skills. The 2017 Survey of Connecticut Manufacturing Workforce Needs, produced by the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA), found that nearly 98 percent of manufacturers expect to hire full-time employees by 2019. While manufacturers hire an average of 22 people a year, according to survey figures, nearly three- quarters (71 percent) of them cite lack of technical skills as a key hiring challenge. That's an alarming figure for a sector with an aging workforce – one that supplies 159,000 jobs in Connecticut and added $42.7 billion to the state's gross domestic product in 2016 alone. To keep pace with the growing demand (an estimated 13,600 jobs, including more than 3,300 entry-level positions, are needed, according to CBIA's survey), the state has turned to public-private partnerships to attract investment in workforce development. Last year, in fact, Siemens, a global technology company, committed $315 million worth of state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and software to the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) for use by students in Advanced Manufacturing Technology Centers at four community colleges in the state. It's not just manufacturing that's gaining traction and driving this kind of investment. From insurance and financial services to healthcare and bioscience, the state is putting dollars into growth sectors designed to prepare a workforce, fuel innovation, and create – and fund – startups. Catherine Smith, commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD), the lead state agency for creating and retaining business and jobs, noted the public dollars have driven significant private-sector support and generated strong return on investment. In 2016, Connecticut Innovations, the WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT " " "We cannot overinvest in technology talent." - Catherine Smith, Commissioner of Connecticut's Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) ECONOMIC DRIVERS