Fostering Relationship Between Area Businesses and Education System Discussed at School Board Workshop
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Jackson Falconer
BRADENTON – "It would be great to see collaboration with K-12," said Sharon Hillstrom, who was speaking at Tuesday's school board workshop about growing the district's relationship with the Bradenton Area Economic Development Corporation in order to further accommodate of area workforce needs.
Hillstrom, the CEO and president of the private not-for-profit company, gave the board a presentation on the EDC's 5-Year Strategic Plan for Manatee County, and how it relates to the area's education system.
That 5-year plan entails bringing in $460 million in capital investment from the private sector, from new businesses that the EDC expects to help lure to the area. 62 is the 5-year plan's number of new businesses that Hillstrom said she wants to see either expand their current operations in the county, or relocate to the area.
Hillstrom said the EDC is recognized by the State of Florida as the leading economic development organization for the area, and has already worked with over 60 businesses that have either expanded or relocated since 2009, with a total capital investment of $447 million from those moves.
Businesses will continue to relocate to Manatee County, said Hillstrom, if they believe the area's workforce will accommodate their employment needs.
Workforce retention and development, said Hillstrom, relates to K-12 education the most out of all of the EDC's cares. "Manatee Technical College does a fantastic job of identifying what companies need (in terms of workforce development), but we need to do more," she said. She suggested that the district:
Explore ways to develop and maintain I.T. talent.
Design an entrepreneurship program for middle and high schools, if one is not already in place.
Establish a farm-to-school program, with such components as buying foods from local farmers to support a localized food system, and to establish gardens at all elementary schools, which she said would "foster learning about how plants grow and where food comes from."
Put additional emphasis on highlighting district successes.
Change the look of its website. She said that objective people had taken a look at the site, and felt that it could be improved aesthetically for the purpose of improving the district's image to businesses. (She added, "Don't shoot the messenger.")
"We've talked about how there's a very symbiotic relationship between education and business," said board member Bob Gause during the presentation. Gause mentioned that large companies like Lockheed Martin "already know what they need to have in the workforce in 2025," and asked what the board could do to further the area's business-education relationship.
For one, Hillstrom said the EDC would like to see career pathways for students talked about more, starting at the middle school level. In addition, Superintendent Diana Greene said she was excited about a collaboration the district recently started between K-12 and area colleges such as SCF, MTC, and USF Sarasota-Manatee.
Called Hometown Education, the collaboration aims to give more area K-12 students the opportunity to eventually enroll in local colleges. "We just started our first set of meetings," said Greene.
Hillstrom, advising near the end of her presentation that her company would continue to foster communication with the district, said, "We'll be more closely aligned moving forward."
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