State of the Workforce
Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties

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Introduction

In November 2003, the Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties began a year-long effort to identify the major issues facing the workforce of the Herkimer-Madison-Oneida counties region in Central Upstate New York, and to continue its efforts to develop the skills employers demand today and job seekers will need tomorrow.

The process began with a 2003 Workforce Summit, as workforce policy expert and former Congressman Steve Gunderson spoke to about 150 local leaders and urged greater awareness of the coming collision between demographics and workforce needs. Gunderson’s basic premise is that the workforce of the future will be very different from that of today or yesterday – more diverse, less prepared in many basic skill areas, and more in need of lifelong education and skills development due to the nature of emerging sectors such as information technology.

Six months later, after numerous forums, one-on-one meetings, focus groups and reports, the WIB reported on its progress in addressing these issues in a meeting with 150 area leaders and Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, who urged regional leaders to keep ahead of trends and develop sustainable solutions.

In November 2004, the WIB brought together almost 200 area leaders – but not to look back at past reports. Futurist Ed Barlow urged the audience to look years down the road and work now as a region to develop the skills infrastructure that can support the vast changes facing the region as the global economy transforms its employment landscape.

This State of the Workforce Report builds upon the research and discussion that has helped increase the numbers of stakeholders working cooperatively to ensure that the people of the Herkimer-Madison-Oneida region have the right skills employers need today; are learning the foundation to develop the skills of tomorrow; and will have ready a sustainable, adaptable series of partnerships to provide needed training as demands change with the economy.

On behalf of the Workforce Investment Board, I want to thank the New York State Department of Labor for its very generous support of our strategic planning initiative, which was funded through a grant by the state. I also want to thank the National Association of Workforce Boards for its support of our efforts to build a demand-driven workforce system, and the U.S. Department of Labor for the vast amount of strategic planning material available through its High Growth Job Training Initiative. Last, but far from least, I want to thank the hundreds of people – staff, employers, educators, elected officials and community members – who devoted time, energy and ideas to our work.

Robin E. O’Brien, Chair
Workforce Investment Board of Herkimer, Madison and Oneida Counties

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