The Chamber in Hays
One of the goals identified by the Ellis County Workforce Committee is to develop a collaborative system that promotes local students staying in Ellis County post-graduation.
To help accomplish this, a community career building sub-committee has been formed, which includes: Hays High School Principal Shawn Henderson, Hays High School Assistant Principal Becky Hickert, Grow Hays Director of Recruitment and Retention David Clingan, Fort Hays State University Vice President for Economic Development Ben Schears, and The Chamber in Hays, Kansas President/CEO Sarah Wasinger.
Discussions within the ECWC have identified a need to catalyze stronger collaboration between the education and business communities, which has stimulated a groundbreaking partnership that will connect Ellis County business leaders with education administration and faculty, as well as students in high school and post-secondary.
This will be accomplished by hosting a series of industry cluster meetings.
During these engaging sessions, the following business will be conducted:
· Discussing enrollment numbers to track student trends and better understand employer needs in hard-to-fill positions in the next three to five years
· Sharing success stories centered around unique partnerships between businesses and individual students
· Bringing students in to share what resonates with them most when seeking employment and potentially connecting with employers for scholarship-to-work contracts
· Providing a platform for businesses to share their expectations directly with students
· Identify potential courses that need to be added into the curriculum to address future workforce needs
· Find potential opportunities for externships so faculty can shadow with employers to better understand their industry’s current and future needs
· Have students share what they are looking for from an employment perspective
Based on current clusters available within Ellis County high schools, the following industries will be grouped together for the 2025-2026 academic year:
The first meeting will feature the manufacturing, distribution, and welding cluster and will be held at the new Hays High School on September 10 from 8:15 to 9:45 a.m. in the hospitality room.
Members of the sub-committee will be contacting businesses to register for this event. Details for future cluster meetings will be shared in future newsletters, and invitations will be extended to chamber members in each of the outlined industries.
For more information about this exciting new collaboration or to get involved in the ECWC, email [email protected] call the Chamber in Hays at 785-628-8201.