This is a #JustMyOpinion feature from the community and written by Joe B Kent!

What about the workforce development conversation in this Memphis Mayoral race? Seems no one in the press wants to drill down on workforce. Mayor Lee Harris doesn’t, and the County Commission’s Workforce committee never meets. The former occurs, as many in local government, talk about building structures but not people through connected workforce development.

Sadly, as local government sends money out the door for “workforce development”, local government has failed to establish a common language to facilitate productive workforce development conversations. Consequently, professional conversations between diverse stakeholders, don’t happen and connected implementation never happens.

Local conversations on workforce are usually elementary like “I am for Literacy”, while discussing “partnerships”, “collaboration” and “planning” away from execution and implementation.

Sustaining the workforce conversation has always demanded strong local government leadership. But for whatever reason, in Memphis, leadership of the workforce conversation is always surrendered to the failed public private complex in Memphis Tomorrow, Chamber, EDGE or Seeding Success. In this way, connected implementation never happens.

The workforce development system has been disconnected and botched for nearly 10 yrs. Here is a brief history:

• Chamber Chairman’s Circle 2014 initiative ended in failure, surrendering the Greater Memphis Alliance for Competitive Workforce (GMACW) to EDGE in 2017. (EDGE)
• Mayor Strickland’s 2016 announced ACT WorkKeys initiative never starts in high schools. (Commercial Appeal)
• EDGE GMACW initiative failed again, transferring assets to Workforce Midsouth around 2020.
• Amity Schuler hired to lead workforce for the Chamber in May 2021 and no connected plan from the Chamber, while Schuler gets on the Memphis River Parks Partnership Board. (Chamber)
• Workforce Midsouth, as of today, last available minutes posted for 3/22. (Workforce Midsouth)
• Seeding Success/More for Memphis, part of the above, fails to deliver an integrated plan, as promised by May 2023. (Shelby County Commission)

Drilling down on workforce might be what voters want to hear more about. After all, the press has beat the crime issue like a dead horse in recent debates, with workforce development being one of the more frequently touted cures for out-of-control crime. At the same time, some concerning realities regarding workforce, will challenge the next Mayor:

• From an economic development standpoint, since EDGE’s creation in 2011, employment growth in Shelby County has only increased by 6.1% compared to 14.5%, 14.7% and 26.5% respectively for Knox, Hamiliton, and Davidson counties in Tennessee (BLS).
• As of 2021, College Career Technical Education (CCTE) of vocational enrollment in Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS) at 31% trails the state average at 55% by 43.6%. This is unfortunate as CCTE offers at-risk students that become academic wary, an engaging alternative. (State of TN)
• As of 2021, MSCS post-secondary enrollment trails the state average by 20%. (State of TN).
• Southwest Community College is struggling.

Why is no one talking about the currently challenged Southwest Community College? This is not the case in other cities throughout the country, who moved in recent years, to bolster community college education, based on economic and employer demand. It was determined elsewhere, outside of Memphis, that 4 yr. degrees for all had been an unfortunate and expensive misplaced goal for years.

Without question, tackling workforce development is key to both improving public safety and economic development outcomes. After all, many say workforce development is economic development. To quantify the former statement, had Shelby County had the employment growth of Knox County of 14.5% since 2010, $13B more in wages and $390M more in local tax revenue would have been generated in Shelby County.

Needless to say, workforce will be a major challenge for the next Memphis Mayor. So why not expand the conversation on workforce development in this mayoral debate season?

Check the Facts

• Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS). Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages. Retrieved on 8/23/23 from https://www.bls.gov/cew/
• Commercial Appeal. Mayors Announce New Workforce Initiative. Retrieved on 8/23/23 from https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/news/government/city/2016/05/09/mayors-announce-new-workforce-initiative/90521976/
• EDGE. Building a Stronger Workforce. Retrieved on 8/23/23 from https://edgemem.com/building-a-stronger-workforce-gmacworkforce-aligns-with-edge/
• Greater Memphis Chamber. Chamber Names Amity Schuyler as New SVP of Workforce Development. Retrieved on 8/23/23 from https://blog.memphischamber.com/chamber-announces-amity-schuyler-as-svp-of-workforce-development
• Shelby County Commission. Committee 11/9/22. Retrieved on 8/23/23 from https://shelby.granicus.com/player/clip/2262view_id=4&meta_id=430512&redirect=true&h=6ea7bbd93a2cdca39c7d6c78c97f73c7
• State of TN. State of TN. Report Card. Retrieved on 8/23/23 from https://tdepublicschools.ondemand.sas.com/
• Workforce Midsouth. Board Minutes. Saved on 8/23/23. https://1drv.ms/i/s!AiNXRWm6KZQigo4Pbz0NjhVR25MwyQ?e=PldwNb