<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/10/1603312206759.png" alt="Alan Cobb, president of the Kansas Chamber, says a new workforce development report shows businesses need to form stronger bonds with K-12, college and university programs to create a workforce of the future. The state also must work harder to recruit young adults to Kansas for the quality of life offered. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)" />
 <figcaption>Alan Cobb, president of the Kansas Chamber, says a new workforce development report shows businesses need to form stronger bonds with K-12, college and university programs to create a workforce of the future. The state also must work harder to recruit young adults to Kansas for the quality of life offered. (Tim Carpenter/Kansas Reflector)</figcaption>
 </figure><h2>State needs better education, business links and more apprenticeships</h2>By TIM CARPENTER <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2020/10/21/kansas-chamber-analysis-plants-seed-of-statewide-workforce-development-overhaul/">Kansas Reflector</a>TOPEKA — The Kansas 
Chamber released a blueprint for upgrading workforce development 
Wednesday that relies on expanding high school and college students’ 
preparation for high-demand careers, massive growth of apprenticeship 
opportunities and investment in recruiting of younger adults leaving the
 military and former Kansans living in nearby Midwest cities.At the core of the analysis was the belief states
 successful in building a bigger talent pipeline to educate, train, 
recruit and retain a qualified workforce would exceed economic progress 
in states that fell short on that front. The report sponsored by the 
Kansas Chamber and produced by Economic Leadership, a consulting firm in
 Raleigh, N.C., focused on how education could better align with 
staffing needs of industries.“You’re in competition 
with the other states in the country and labor is the top issue,” said 
Ted Abernathy, of Economic Leadership. “You cannot have a state that’s 
going to be successful that isn’t able to grow its labor and isn’t able 
to continue to give its labor the skills that they need in a pretty fast
 changing world.”The
 report concluded Kansas businesses were having difficulty finding 
workers with required skills, employers weren’t sufficiently involved in
 the education system’s workforce development and the state’s colleges 
and universities should more quickly respond to economic shifts.&nbsp;&nbsp;“We
 expect this report to be a living plan that will improve and expand in 
the next few years as&nbsp; the Chamber meets and works with other 
stakeholders committed to addressing our state’s workforce challenges,” 
said Alan Cobb, president of the Kansas Chamber.The report included 20 
reform ideas, including a suggestion Kansas labor law be amended to 
allow people under 18 to get more work experience and to extend school 
district liability coverage to protect businesses that take on young 
employees or interns.Local chambers of commerce
 should help small and mid-size businesses connect with K-12 schools for
 job fairs, mentoring, job shadowing, site visits and in-school 
presentations, the report said.The
 study recommends the 2021 Legislature and Gov. Laura Kelly work 
together on a scholarship program targeted at Kansas high school 
graduates studying in high-demand fields at community and technical 
colleges. The initiative should require recipients of the financial aid 
stay in Kansas for two years after completing a degree or certificate 
program.The
 report said Kansas ought to establish a goal of reaching the national 
average for the number of active apprentices per 100,000 people in the 
working age population, which would require doubling this number from 
132 to 263 within five years.“Those numbers still look 
low to me. We also need to look at youth apprenticeships,” said Cynthia 
Lane, chairwoman of the Governor’s Council on Education.In fact, the state of Missouri has an apprenticeship program in information technology with more than 5,000 participants.The
 consultants said Kansas could create an apprenticeship tax credit for 
businesses in a manner adopted by South Carolina and Alabama. With an 
infusion of state funding, Kansas could deepen the number of registered 
apprenticeship programs sponsored by the community or technical colleges
 as well as industry association boards.The
 Kansas Department of Corrections should form more partnerships with 
community and technical colleges to train incarcerated adults and youth 
in preparation for their release from custody, the report said.There should be statewide 
goals for higher education institutions in terms of the percentage of 
students placed in workplace internships, the report said. In addition, 
Kansas college scholarship programs, including nursing and engineering, should be tied to post-graduation residency requirements.“Recruiting
 talent back to Kansas can get very expensive. It’s much easier to keep 
talent that’s here,” said Blake Flanders, president of the Kansas Board 
of Regents, which has oversight of 32 public colleges and universities.Flanders
 said Kansas universities were able to replace with out-of-state 
students the Kansas high school graduates who enroll at college in other
 states. The problem is many of these nonresident at Kansas universities
 leave the state after graduating because they can earn more money in 
jobs elsewhere, he said.For
 example, he said, an electrical engineering graduate from Kansas can 
make $15,000 more a year in Missouri and $20,000 more annually in Texas.The consultants 
recommended Kansans use state or private funds to recruit former 
residents of the state in nearby Midwest cities, especially those in the
 family-formation stage of their lives. The selling points ought to be 
quality of life and affordable cost of living, the report said.The report also proposed Kansas increase career transition outreach efforts to military personnel in Kansas who are preparing to enter civilian life.Tim Carpenter has reported on Kansas for 35 years. He covered the Capitol for 16 years at the Topeka Capital-Journal and previously worked for the Lawrence Journal-World and United Press International.

Kansas Chamber plants seed of workforce development overhaul