Strategies for Community Colleges to Build the Workforce of the Future

Community colleges are at the forefront of efforts to train workers, address workforce gaps, and prepare for future job demands. Aligning workforce development with regional economic development strategies is crucial, especially as technology reshapes workplaces, requiring workers to reskill.

Unfortunately, many community colleges lack the strategic capacity to align workforce training to longer-term regional economic development. This is particularly true for emerging fields or changing occupations, including the innovation economy. The gap can lead to inequitable access to good jobs for community college students, a lack of technician-level talent for emerging industries, and, potentially, a sustainability challenge for colleges facing new or intensified competition from other players in workforce education.

Some community colleges, however, have the strategic vision and organization to bridge this gap. They equip workers with the necessary current skills while fostering lifelong learning, supporting immediate employment, and long-term career advancement. These colleges prioritize credential-connected career pathways in both credit and non-credit programs and collaborate closely with regional employers and economic development stakeholders, connecting people to emerging careers. This approach builds an ecosystem of well-trained workers tailored to regional and statewide needs, promoting inclusive economic development.

Columbus State Community College is one such institution. Based on their experience, here are five steps community colleges can take to align workforce and economic development.

1. Make talent development a leadership priority. Columbus State Community College leadership deliberately decided to transition from a workforce portfolio dominated by contract-based offerings to a comprehensive regional talent strategy. Leaders regularly engage with regional economic development organizations, employers, and state agencies to understand current and future workforce needs.

Recognizing their role in inclusive economic development, Columbus State’s leadership has spearheaded a public-private partnership known as the Central Ohio Compact since 2011. This coalition of employers, K-12 districts, and universities has developed a regional approach to workforce development. Columbus State also convenes a Workforce Advisory Council, which consists of chief talent officers from the region's largest employers, who act as the employers' voice in setting workforce priorities for Central Ohio. The Central Ohio Compact and the Workforce Advisory Council have been key incubators for the formation of the Office of Talent Strategy at Columbus State, which serves as the regional convener for workforce solutions and is supported by a corporate funder.

2. Build grant capacity and ensure that grants align with long-term strategic outcomes. Managing several unrelated grants, such as short-term training grants and contracts with specific employers to train a handful of workers, can divert and diffuse bandwidth and resources in unstrategic directions. When Columbus State adopted a long-term strategy to build strong K-12 to career pathways as the foundation for inclusive economic development in the region, it aligned grants with achieving the outcomes supporting this overarching strategy.

At the same time, Columbus State enhanced its grant development capabilities to align with its strategy and support the Office of Talent Strategy and workforce development initiatives. The college now has a 10-person grants team, which has grown slowly over time and even supports other community colleges in the state. This team applies for a combination of local, federal, and national philanthropy grants to sustain their programs. The grants director provides strategic direction, monitors new funding needs, understands the national landscape, and connects with funders, allowing the team to be well-prepared for upcoming grants. Rebecca Butler, Executive Vice President at Columbus State Community College, emphasizes the importance of strategic preparation, noting that Columbus State might not have received one of the largest gifts ever awarded to a U.S. community college if it hadn’t already had a healthcare strategy in place when the funding opportunity arose.

3. Leverage specific industry expertise. Many community colleges have industry advisory boards, but these boards often focus on a narrow set of programs and typically meet only a few times a year. This limits their ability to provide nuanced, real-time insights to the college. For most community colleges, engaging with the advisory board is often just a routine meeting to check a box rather than actively involving the board in decision-making. To standardize and enhance the quality and consistency of advisory committees, Pima Community College implemented the use of an advisory committee handbook and staff training.

Recognizing the need for a more accurate understanding of labor market needs and to strengthen employer relationships, Columbus State hired executives in residence, including former business executives. These executives focus on specific high-need sectors in the Columbus region—Healthcare, Advanced Manufacturing, Biotech, and Information Technology (IT). They monitor the industry, maintain relationships with key employers, contribute to curriculum design, and offer forward-looking strategic guidance to the college.

4. Develop a concrete approach to racial and gender equity. Concerned about occupational segregation, which occurs when a race or gender is over or underrepresented in certain occupations, Columbus State adopted a comprehensive strategy to promote equity. In healthcare, the college convened an industry advisory committee of chief talent officers from regional employers, focused on filling job vacancies and diversifying the workforce. Columbus State recognized that its current healthcare enrollment was insufficient to meet the equity goals of both the college and its regional employers. Consequently, it launched a strategic recruitment and retention campaign aimed at doubling the number of graduates from healthcare programs, particularly from underrepresented backgrounds. To combat occupational segregation, Butler emphasized the importance of an honest internal assessment, comparing college-level data with community needs and developing concrete plans to improve outcomes. Another example is at County College of Morris in New Jersey, where they created a targeted outreach program for the Latino community to better serve that community and increased enrollment enough to become a Hispanic Serving Institution.

5. Align credit and non-credit programs. Bridging the credit-noncredit divide is essential for colleges aiming to enhance workforce development programs. Research shows high-quality workforce programs should create pathways to advanced credentials and degrees. Columbus State Community College restructured its programs into four strategic areas: Healthcare, Advanced Manufacturing, Biotech, and IT. Each area has an enterprise project manager responsible for aligning credit and non-credit programs. Faculty collaborate to design both credit and non-credit coursework within these strategic areas to avoid duplication.

Community colleges are crucial in aligning workforce development with economic growth, especially amid technological shifts. Columbus State Community College exemplifies successful, structural strategies to prioritize talent development, form public-private partnerships, and collaborate closely with employers, all while keeping equity in mind. Ultimately, community colleges can address immediate skill needs while also laying the groundwork for inclusive economic development.