provided to The Santiva Chronicle
A panel of four local education leaders brought members of the SanCap Chamber, Greater Fort Myers Chamber of Commerce (GFMCC), and Florida Restaurant & Lodging Association (FRLA) up to date on what their institutions are accomplishing in the field of workforce development and what members can do to help. They spoke to about 190 attendees at the joint monthly business luncheon July 15 at the Sanibel Harbour Marriott Resort & Spa in Fort Myers.
Tatum Walker, Lee County Economic Development (EOD) Office senior business developer, moderated the program. Panelists included Kathryn Kelly, founder and chief executive officer of the Heights Foundation, which is in its final phases of opening The Heights CareerTech Institute in Fort Myers; Peter Ocsody, director of entrepreneurship and innovation at Florida SouthWestern State College; John Roszell, director of the Fort Myers Technical College; and Kelly Thawley, coordinator of micro-credential and workforce programs at Florida Gulf Coast University.
Questions and answers addressed pressing workforce needs, trades training, keeping workers, needed legislative support, meeting the needs of a fast-changing world, and partnerships with the business community and high schools.
“We know that Hurricane Ian shined a spotlight on the lack of the trades that were available to us today,” said Kathryn Kelly. “It’s not just practical skills, even though that’s in part my work, but learning customer service and the culture of a company. That’s why learning the soft skills, as we call them, or the wraparounds, those are so important, too. We know that when someone goes to apply for a job, you want to know that they can actually do the job, but how do they fit in with your company?”
Peter Ocsody hit hard on the importance of artificial intelligence (AI) and technical skills. “I cannot over-emphasize how important AI is for every one of you,” he said. “Every one of you should pay significantly more attention to this, unless you are already paying that attention to it…. It’s like electricity that everything gets plugged into.” He also likened AI to a puzzle pieces one must figure out how to fit together.
John Roszell called it “a co-pilot for a career… how to get where you’re going.” Kelly Thawley pointed out the importance of teaching how to use AI ethically and as an enhancement to a career.
Panelists emphasized, however, that skills come first and demonstrated programs their institutions have developed for making training more accessible, including “earn while you learn” curricula, job shadowing, internships, having a presence in high school classrooms, and short-term options like micro-credentials. Learning and “stacking” niche workplace skills can improve hire-ability, build a career, and possibly provide a pipeline to college education, they said. Many of these programs depend upon industry partners’ participation.
Heights Institute is being designed to create the reality of the workplace with one floor set up like a hospital, another like an automotive shop, said Kelly. Besides healthcare and automotive mechanics, the panel mentioned manufacturing, construction, and marine mechanics as high skill priorities.
Attracting and keeping workers in Southwest Florida is a community effort, said Roszell. It’s not just about starting a career; it’s about starting a life here.
“Thanks to our speakers for demonstrating that strengthening the local workforce goes beyond the doors of our fine learning institutions,” said John Lai, president and chief executive officer of SanCap Chamber, GFMCC, and FRLA. “They are doing so much to keep up with today’s demand, but they need the support of the entire business community. We can all work together to create an ecosystem that welcomes and nurtures workers and their families.”
Sponsors for the July 15 meeting included Annual Luncheon Sponsor HBKS, along with Quantum Fiber and Trailways Camps.
The topic of the next joint meeting of the SanCap Chamber, GFMCC, and Lee Chapter of the FRLA on Wednesday, Aug. 26, will be Behind the Bill: A Property Tax Conversation with Lee County tax appraiser Matt Caldwell and Lee County tax collector Noelle Branning. Location to be announced.
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