Industry Data: How to Identify
(or confirm) Your Target Industry
July 29, 2013
Part 2 of 3-Part EARN Maryland Webinar Series
Presented by Lindsey Woolsey
Miss the first EARN Maryland webinar?
Webinar 1: July 10, 2013
Industry Partnerships 101:
What, Why, How and Impact
You can view it at www.earn.maryland.gov
Don’t miss the third EARN Maryland webinar:
Webinar 3: August 1, 2013
Mobilizing your Partnership:
Preparing for the Launch
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Today’s Agenda
• Quick Recap on Industry Partnerships
– What, Why, How
– Training Components
• Data – a “run-through”
– Why more data? (aka: haven’t we already done this?)
– What kinds of data?
– Limitations of data – where it stops, where you take it
– Why it matters for Industry Partnerships and accurate
training solutions
Designs by
Today’s Industry Partnerships:
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Are employer driven
Are regional
Are convened by a credible third party
Act as a coordinating body across multiple education,
workforce development, economic development and other
programs
Create highly customized responses to a target industry’s
needs, and therefore highly accurate responses
They are about more than workforce training
Treat employers as partners, not just customers
Are NOT a grant program, a short term training project, a
passing fad; they are a long term partnership
THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM:
• Your local workforce investment board
• Your regional or city economic development
board
• Your Chamber of Commerce
• An industry association
• Your Community College Advisory Boards
Workforce Training Inevitably is a Central Focus
• Why? Because it’s always on the minds of
business, in every industry
• How is Industry Partnership Training different
from “customized job training?”
– Not a one-to-one relationship with an employer; it’s a
relationship with the regional industry
– There’s a give-and-take; you partner with employers
• What level of training are we talking about?
– All levels: it depends on the industry’s needs
– But IP’s are a highly effective vehicle for low-income/
low-skilled worker advancement
WHAT’S THE LIFE CYCLE
OF AN INDUSTRY
PARTNERSHIP?
•They can last for years
•They change constantly
•Each one looks different
•But there are common
elements
How many IPs should one region have?
• Depends on your region’s
labor market (how many
sectors really drive your
local economy?)
• Coordinate across geopolitical lines
• Actual boundaries of “region” may vary depending on target
industry – be flexible
• The State of Maryland should have multiple Healthcare IPs,
Manufacturing IPs, Logistics IPs, Construction IPs, etc.
• But any one jurisdiction (workforce, economic development,
a county, city, etc) should only have one Healthcare
partnership, and one Manufacturing partnership, etc!
Why are we talking about regions
when IPs are about industries?
• Ideally, every IP is structured around its natural
labor market region (not geo-political or
jurisdictional boundaries)
– The Labor Market doesn’t know geo-political
boundaries, and neither do employers.
• What is a labor market region? It’s the footprint
of an industry (concentrations of like companies,
commuter sheds, shared infrastructure).
• Every industry will have a slightly different
geographic labor market region.
Any questions at this point?
Getting into the Data
• Your data dive is all about choosing a target
industry for an IP or confirming and finding out
more about a target industry already selected
•What stage are you at?
– Already working with an industry?
• At what level? Training program? Multiple training programs?
• At what regional scope? One Workforce area, a city, a county, an
economic development district? A true labor market region?
– Already picked an industry but haven’t started working with them yet?
– Clean slate: nothing set in stone, still exploring?
What do regions have to do with data?
• You need a starting place for your data dive
– Not too big, not too small
• As you narrow your focus on certain industries,
the actual “map” or definition for that industry’s
labor market region will get clearer
• Start with a defined area, but be flexible around
the margins as you establish your Industry
Partnership
Guiding Principles of Data
Know what it will give you . . .
• A baseline of real
information
• A way to prioritize
– Avoid the “Picking winners
and losers” trap
– You have limited collective
resources. Use them well.
• A starting place for a
conversation
Know the limitations . . .
• No data set is perfect
• There is usually a lag
• There is always missing data
• There is also always too
much data!
– Beware: Analysis Paralysis
• There is no substitute for
actual conversations with
employers
Which data points matter most?
1. Current Employment
2. Short term change in
Jobs (2 years)
3. Long term change in
jobs (10 years)
4. Current and past
Location Quotients
5. Current wages
6. # Establishments
7. Average # Jobs per
Establishment
8. Job Growth
Projections
9. Occupational data
10. Your on-the-ground
knowledge
What if you don’t have all these data
points? Work with what you have.
Your Job: Get the data points to interact (and
don’t do this alone). Try This:
1. Get everyone in the
same room looking at
the same data:
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Workforce Development
Economic Development
Education
Other Stakeholders
(community based
organizations, human
service organizations, etc)
2. Discuss!
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–
–
–
Discuss each data
point.
Assess which feels
“real” based on what
you know already.
Share on-the-ground
knowledge that the
data does not reflect.
Come to some
agreement on which
industry sectors really
matter (jobs, quality)
Discussion Questions
1. Current Employment: Which sectors are your biggest employers?
Moderate employment? Smallest employment?
2. Short term change in Jobs: Any upticks? Any rapid declines?
Which show strongest combination of absolute and percentage
change?
3. Long term change in Jobs: Which sectors have added the most
jobs in the past decade? Which have highest long term growth
rates? Which reflect growth over long and short term?
4. Current and past location quotients: Which sectors have an LQ
above 1.0? Which have the highest LQs? Is there an industry
sector that shows an increase in LQ over time? If so, it’s growing
faster in your region than the national average.
5. Current wages: Which sectors show the highest and lowest
average wages? Which sectors have the strongest combination
of higher than average wages and job growth?
6.
# Current Establishments: Which sectors show the largest # of actual
firms/companies?
7. Average # jobs per Establishment: Which have the highest # jobs per
firm? Which have the lowest? Which have the highest # of
establishments but low # jobs? Which have the lowest # of
establishments but high # of jobs? What does this say about the
structure of the sector?
8. Job Growth Projections: Which sectors show growth? Which show
strongest combined growth in absolute #s and percentages?
9. Occupational Data: What are the top occupations in terms of jobs and
family-sustaining wages in your potential target sectors? Are there
occupations that cross multiple sub-sectors of an industry? What does
the data show in terms of projected new growth and replacement
needs? What are the skills requirements?
10. Your On-the-ground Knowledge: What do all the combined above
inquiries yield? What do we know anecdotally about certain sectors?
What’s the culture of the industry? Readiness of industry to collaborate?
Willingness of industry to invest in solutions? Other timing
considerations? What are our individual and collective relationships?
Any quick questions?
A Good Data Conversation – a simulation
What do we get out of this?
Studying the data alone gets
you:
• A bunch of numbers
• One interpretation of the
numbers
Organizing a conversation
about the data gets you:
• Deeper understanding of your
industries
• Anecdotal information from
different perspectives
– Workforce development
– Economic development
– Education
• Regional Stakeholder Buy-in
and Agreement about Priorities
• A next step for moving forward
together
What are the Next Steps?
Creating an Industry Partnership
• The data is just the
beginning
• Real information about
industry needs comes from
employers
• Use your IP to understand
training needs
• But don’t limit your IP to
just workforce issues
Get some Training out the Door
• Accurate training solutions
come from discussing skills
needs and opportunities
with a group of employers
from the same industry in
your region (an IP)
• Good IPs allow you to get
early wins + long term
training/ education
strategies
What you can expect as part of EARN Maryland:
• A data toolkit
– Building on the Maryland Workforce Dashboard and inclusive of
as many essential data points as possible
– A “DIY” Workshop Guide for holding a data conversation with
your regional partners
• By when?
– Mid-September
• Why use it?
– Supplement what you already know
– Find out what you don’t know
– Use it as an organizing tool across stakeholders
– Use it as a “buy-in” tool to get more support from stakeholders
for industry-focused efforts
Next Webinar:
•Webinar #3: Thursday, August 1st 1-2:00 pm
Mobilizing your Partnership – Preparing for the
Launch (or Expansion)
More Questions?