Coming up next on this special Labor Day edition of Arizona Horizon, we'll hear how the nonprofit pipeline connects is helping change the state's workforce ecosystem.

Also tonight, a new Arizona coalition aims to help high school students prepare for careers after graduation, and a statewide partnership prepares students for careers in manufacturing.

Those stories and more next, on this special Labor Day edition of Arizona Horizon.

Arizona Horizon is made possible by contributions from the Friends of Arizona PBS, members of your public television station.

Good evening, and welcome to the special Labor Day edition of Arizona Horizon.

I'm Ted Simons.

The nonprofit Pipeline Connects is a statewide effort to address workforce issues in Arizona by helping connect people to careers, education, and training opportunities.

We learn more from Jim Rounds, president of Rounds Consulting Group, in a board member of Pipeline Connects, as well as Amber Smith.

She's the CEO of Pipeline Connects.

Pipeline connects.

Sounds like it connects.

It does.

And it's not a gas pipeline.

No it's not.

Contrary to some believers.

We are a statewide career pathway infrastructure system where we are connecting career explorers.

Beginning in sixth grade, post-secondary college students, job seekers and employers all to each other, and finding the training and education program along the way right in their own local community.

Connecting what was and can be a fragmented education employment kind of system.

Correct?

Absolutely.

And that is one of the biggest challenges we're seeing nationally.

That equals about $1.1 trillion deficit.

What I mean is each of those pieces career seekers, career explorers, job trainers, educators and employers all work independently of each other and are siloed.

So at every critical point, such as high school graduation or enrolling into whatever kind of post-secondary those connections do not happen.

Costing collectively, nationally, 1.1 trillion.

All right, Jim.

How did they get fractured?

How did this silo business with these things?

They should be intertwined in some way, shape or form.

How did all this happen?

It's always been like that.

I mean, the only reason I became a policy economist is because I had a great professor at ASU say go apply to joint Linda Slater Budget Committee.

You can get out of a test.

And so I did it and it worked out.

That was luck.

We we needed to be more structured.

So younger individuals, when they're going in and they're trying to figure out what they want to learn, do they want to take more math?

Do they want to take other sciences?

They need to understand the different opportunities that are there.

So it's more efficient.

They're not borrowing as much money to chase a career that they end up not liking later.

It's really trying to make the system more efficient, and we're going to have such big workforce shortages down the road.

It's not just a matter of adding volume, but it's trying to create more efficiency with the individuals that we currently have.

Can you create efficiency and can you do that?

Can you make the silos get along?

Yes.

The short answer is yes, which is why we exist, because to Jim's point, students are making decisions to either opt in or opt out of a career, sometimes all the way in elementary school.

So therefore, if we can have those students be able to better understand their community college and the programs they have in their community, and of course, the universities and those programs that match what they're interested in, we absolutely can connect all of those pieces.

So I'm a sixth through 12th graders here, and I don't really know what I want, but I think I know what I want, but I'm not too sure about what a how does pipeline connects help me?

So so I was in graduate school when I still didn't know 100% what I wanted to do, but for for the sixth grader, I think the information is better for the parents because they have such an influence on where a kid ends up wanting to go when the areas of interest, as they get a little bit more into junior high and high school, they have a better idea, and you have to select the right kind of classes to figure out where you want to go and be efficient with it.

So I feel like groups like pipeline, and this is why I've been on the board for a while.

I was trying to clear my schedule of different boards, and I just couldn't give this one up because I really feel like it's one of those needed pieces to help bridge that gap.

If we can shorten the time that it takes people to get into the workforce, we can keep our current economic momentum going in the state.

And you mentioned impact to GDP, state and national is this Arizona is not alone here.

Arizona is not alone.

However, as Mr.

Rounds can attest, we have $180 million positive economic impact due to the connectivity we have created through the system.

And that's actually a conservative number, would you say?

Yeah.

So usually when we do economic impact analyzes, they'll come in a little bit more conservative than what you're thinking.

The number is well, this one came in pretty large and we had to double check the data.

And then we still missed it by a decent percentage because they're doing such a good job of getting more of these groups together to be thinking about it.

So if we have the K-12 system working with groups like pipeline, working with the community colleges, we need to make that list, because some of the preliminary findings that we're coming out with, with a Board of Regents report that we're working on with the Regents, it is going to be showing that the state is going to be losing billions of dollars over the next decade, because we're not going to be able to maintain our current economic momentum if we can't keep this workforce supply moving forward.

So it's not just about bringing in new workers from the outside.

We have to be more efficient from inside.

But if we do it, it's an opportunity.

So it's a risk of losing the money or it's an opportunity to make that extra revenue.

And Amber, 90% growth since this nonprofit started in 2022 is what I found out here.

That sounds fantastic, but it sounds like that also means that there was a glaring need for this that probably still exists.

I mean, is 90% growth good?

The ideal system connects every six through 12 student to every career pathway offered in Arizona to every hiring employer.

So that number far exceeds.

We've had extensive growth, but really, that's what perfection looks like, because our job is to better understand what employers need, what occupations do they need students to be interested in going into.

And then we have the opportunity to influence those students and better educate them on those available pathways right here in our state, which I think is one of the most critical pieces we need to focus on.

And here's how I see it, is the state's been doing well in terms of the economy after the Great Recession.

We've talked numerous times on all the different things that have been done, but we haven't been perfecting this area.

So I feel like if we were a car going down the road on the freeway, we're going pretty fast.

And then we look down in our parking brake is pulled up.

What if we let that thing down?

How much faster are we going to go?

So the state's already doing well from an economic perspective.

We're fine tuning right now.

We're speeding things up.

So it's it's should this have been taken care of.

You can only do so many things at once.

But now we're working on workforce and other fundamentals again, which is what I like.

Last question, Amber, what do you want to see from public officials, from leaders regarding this particular part of the economy and growth?

Lead with the data.

We can start collecting student career interest as early as sixth grade.

Let's make sure that we have that information, and we can start to inform them better and operate off of one piece of data that influences all of these economic development decisions.

And those silos are getting along.

You say the silos are getting their connector connecting.

There's nothing political about what we do, which is magic.

All right.

Amber Smith, Jim Rounds, good to have you both here.

Encouraging report and thanks for being here.

We appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

A new statewide coalition of business and government leaders is working to help high school students to realistically prepare for their future jobs.

To learn more, we spoke to Chad Gaston.

He's the executive director of Noise Arizona Institute for education and the economy.

State 48 graduate profiles.

What we're talking about here.

Yes, what we're talking about.

And let me tell you a little bit about it.

What?

First of all, what it's not is it's not the end of a journey.

It's the beginning of something really important in Arizona.

We were just recently here on your show, hearing what other things that might divide us and challenging things in society.

But I'll tell you one thing that we've learned over the last couple of years that we don't have division on, and that's our children.

And the state 48 graduate profile is a really incredible vision for our state's children and basically clarifying expectations for graduates.

What what is going to happen next and get your ducks in a row or what's going on here.

Yeah, we spent a year and a half traveling around the state.

We surveyed focus group summits, meetings, convening of thousands of Arizonans.

Talk to parents, students, educators, employers, economists, futurists thing.

What is it truly that students need to be ready when they leave high school?

And so this is a new, bold vision for the state of Arizona.

To grow into that, we have to produce students that are ready for the future.

The economy is changing.

Society is changing.

Students need to be ready to thrive.

It looks like you have four futures here that every graduate should be ready to pursue enrollment, employment, enlistment and service.

Yeah.

What we heard from Arizona is, number one, we have to stop pitting college versus career.

Both are really important.

But we also heard that things like enlisting in the military, entering into a season of service, whether that's faith based or nonprofit like AmeriCorps, Peace Corps, but also entrepreneurship, entrepreneurship.

It's really incredibly important in society, in the economy, that students leave with an entrepreneurial mindset.

Is that a different?

Is that a kind of a different mindset than the education community in general has had over the years?

I think the reality is, is that when we think about high school graduation requirements and how high school has been structured for nearly 100 years, that has not been the focus.

But as the society changes, as technology changes, as workforce changes, we need to make sure that education evolves with it.

I saw as well the idea is to make kids future proof.

Yeah, we need we hear all the time from business and industry.

We need a future proof economy.

The only way we will get that is if we have future proof graduates ready for what comes next.

How to translate now this profile into practice.

Yeah.

So it's a it's a multi-year journey ahead of us.

What's going to happen.

What you'll see take place from the nonprofit sector early childhood K-12 philanthropy government.

You'll start to see adoption and alignment to this state.

48 graduate profile.

Now that we now know exactly what students should look like when they walk across the stage where they're going to be prepared for not just the four futures, but the eight essentials.

Students have to be have high levels of knowledge and literacy.

That will always be true.

They have to be digitally fluent.

They have to.

We're living in more and more of a technological society.

Students have to leave ready for that digital world.

But also the durable skills and the human skills are critically important.

So you'll start to see full alignment around eventually even having tough conversations about standards assessment, graduation requirements.

These are really difficult yet important conversations that Arizona must have in the coming years.

How many of those conversations are going on right now and where do schools fit in?

Yeah, so we've built a massive statewide coalition now of over 200 organizations representing all 15 counties early childhood, K-12, higher ed business and industry, government, philanthropy, nonprofit sector.

And a big part of that is the K-12 system.

We have over 50 school districts, charter schools, private schools, micro schools all engaged in this work.

We know that this widespread change that needs to happen, needs to happen not just in K-12, but around K-12.

And it's the coalition.

Obviously, we mentioned government leaders and civic leaders and such.

But as far as education leaders are concerned, you've got such a gamut in Arizona.

You've got private schools, you've got charter schools, you've got home schools, you've got the traditional schools.

How do you get all of these folks on board with this same profile?

Well, the great news is they are there.

All everyone that you just mentioned is engaged in this coalition.

As I said, district Charter C, Ted's private schools, micro schools, tribal schools.

This is a unique opportunity for a unique coalition that represents rural, urban, suburban, indigenous, Republicans, Democrats, independents all coming together to say, we have one thing in common and that's the future of our children.

And if we can get the future of our children right, we can get the future of Arizona, right?

Okay.

In terms of practicality, how does it start?

How does this begin?

How does it grow and progress?

What do we look for as far as results?

Now, what you'll look for is you'll start to see adoption, endorsement and alignment from early childhood agencies like First Things First, school districts across the state and charter schools across the state.

You'll see us presenting at the charter board and the state board to start a process to really think about where Arizona's K-12 system needs to go.

You'll also see the K-12 nonprofit sector that supports nonprofits like Arizona Educational Foundation, SciTech Institute, who we launched this profile in partnership with.

But even things like Valley Leadership in the Arizona K-12 center, you're going to start to see full alignment and involvement around all programing so that the state of Arizona points toward one thing, and that's the state 48 graduate profile.

Real quickly, any pushback on this?

No, because we're building this with Arizona for Arizona, a broad coalition from students all the way up to to leaders in the economy.

We're building this with Arizona for Arizona.

All right, Chad, guests.

And again, Arizona Institute for education and the economy up there at now.

Good to see you again.

Likewise.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Nearly 5 million people a year travel to Arizona from all over the world for a chance to peer into the sublime expanse of the Grand Canyon.

It's hard to imagine that any of them noticed the giant Navajo sandstone slab jutting from the earth just outside the park's eastern entrance at milepost 268 on highway 64.

A plaque was once affixed to this stone.

It honored the victims of one of the gravest air tragedies in American history.

On the morning of June 30th, 1956, TWA flight two and United Airlines Flight 718 left Los Angeles within minutes of each other.

One was in route to Kansas City, the other for Chicago.

They would collide over the Grand Canyon.

Both airlines and the government would recover, identify, and return home as many of the victims as the rugged wilderness would yield.

67 of the TWA victims, 63 unidentified, are buried in the Citizens Cemetery in Flagstaff.

Services were performed by Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, and Mormon clergymen.

29 unidentified victims from the United Flight were interred below a memorial in the Grand Canyon Cemetery on the South Rim.

Public outcry from the accident resulted in the creation of the Federal Aviation Agency, and a modernization of the country's air traffic control system.

Nobody knows what happened to the plaque that once paid tribute to the victims of flight 2 in 718, but their deaths are honored by the safe arrival of the many tourists that fly to the Grand Canyon each and every day.

I had five ancestors, several ancestors, eight patriot ancestors.

I have 34 proven ancestors who fought in the American Revolution.

I would tell them how proud I am of their sacrifice.

The fact that they were willing to go out and give up everything and commit treason against the crown for the beliefs of freedom and liberty, I would ask them what led them to fight or support the cause of freedom in the colonies for American independence?

Thank you for the sacrifices.

The lives and fortunes that people lost for our freedoms and to create this country that we are so proud to live in.

Today.

I would reinforce to them how thankful I am every day for their sacrifices and what they did to bring freedom to the United States of America, and to found this country with freedom for all and the opportunity for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

When you support Arizona PBS, you plant a seed seeds that provide educational outreach in our community, seeds that put our digital resources to work.

Seeds that foster the trusted news coverage you expect from PBS, and seeds that continue the amazing PBS programs you love.

But our garden can't keep growing without your support.

Visit our website to see all the ways you can help our garden grow.

Plant a seed with Arizona PBS today.

The Ready Tech Go Initiative is a statewide partnership between employers and six community college districts, designed to prepare students for careers in manufacturing.

The goal is to equip students with skills to quickly enter the workforce while supporting long term career advancement.

We learn more about the program from Mary Foote, director of the Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity.

Ready, tech.

Go.

Now.

This is.

This already existed, correct?

Yes.

It's been in operation for several years.

Yeah, but now there's an expansion.

Yes.

So talk to us about this.

So we received a grant from the Southwest Border Regional Commission, and it allowed us to expand the Ready Tech Go program from three colleges currently within the Maricopa system Central Arizona College and PMA.

And now we've been able to expand to rural areas that also have needs for advanced manufacturing in partnership with Local First.

We're at Mojave.

We're also at Yavapai and Coconino.

When you say advanced manufacturing, what does that mean?

Oh, gosh.

Advanced manufacturing is so many things now it can be.

We have partnerships with companies like Freeport and Mining.

Obviously, all of the semiconductor fab plants that are coming to the state.

Robotics.

It's a it's a whole lot of different industries that are affected.

Yeah.

And we're looking right now this this does not look like people on an assembly line putting a car together.

I mean, this is this is a whole different ball game isn't it.

Yes it is.

It's really fun for students.

You know, we're looking at people who are coming out of high school, but also it's great for career changers.

And we have a lot of data that's telling us there's going to be more than 200,000 jobs in advanced manufacturing by 2030.

And so it's a great opportunity for somebody looking for a sector that has growth opportunities.

So it sounds like short term training is included in this initiative as well.

True.

Yes.

So students can get a certification in as little as two weeks.

So they front load the curriculum so that people can get a certification right away and begin working.

They can continue on if they choose.

It can lead all the way to an associate's degree in applied science.

So there really lots of opportunities.

And then you have the ability to earn while you learn.

Yeah, yeah.

The stackable credentials involved here.

Right?

Absolutely.

Explain what that means.

So stackable credentials means that when you are looking at a credential, it immediately gives you the opportunity to go to another credential.

So you're showing that you have a baseline level of skill that can prepare you for the next step in your education and training journey.

I noticed something called the Automated Industrial Training Program.

Is that essentially, is that basically what we're talking about here?

Yes.

So Ready Tech Go supports the automated industrial training program.

Part of the idea is to provide consistency in the curriculum across all six colleges.

So if I'm an employer and I'm hiring somebody with a credential from the eight program, I know exactly what I'm getting, that they're going to have the skills they need.

Day one to enter the workforce.

That's interesting because as we mentioned, there are a lot of community colleges out there, a lot of university.

I mean, everyone could be teaching their own thing in a silo.

And the employer is going, hey, I need X and you're giving me the rest of the alphabet.

Yeah, we've worked very closely with the community colleges on this curriculum.

They've done a great job working together.

They've also done a great job working with the employers directly.

Companies like TSMC, companies like Raytheon and Freeport, to really develop that feedback loop between the corporations and the education institutions.

What are you hearing from TSMC and some of these other corporations?

We're hearing that they need employees, right.

So really part of our goal is to ensure that we're meeting the forecasted needs in advanced manufacturing.

So we know that there is a demand.

And so what can we do to provide resources and empower colleges to get the curriculum and the people educated to meet that demand, to demand any kind of a round figure here, ballpark number is how many jobs that are open and are available here open.

I don't know that I have that number, but I can tell you that there are currently 160,000 jobs in advanced manufacturing in the state.

Wow.

So if we're looking at past 2030 having about 200,000, there is great demand.

So we need to do everything we can in addition to this program.

Certainly career and technical education institutions, it's really an all hands on deck.

And again the emphasis is on community colleges here.

It's kind of nice to see because sometimes community colleges get lost in the mix and it's a great opportunity out there.

Yeah, I mean, community colleges are a fantastic entry point into education and training, and it really helps people kind of get early entry into the field, into a sector, and being able to get a certification in as little as two weeks helps you understand.

Is this the right career path for me, or am I able to pivot and do it in a way that's affordable?

Yeah, yeah.

And as you mentioned earlier, rural areas, especially community colleges.

That's a big deal.

Yeah, it's a very big deal.

And you know, they have advanced manufacturing institutions, companies as well that need these types of workers.

As I mentioned, mining, you know, mining.

We are one of the top states for mining and natural resources across the country.

So we're seeing a lot of demand in that industry.

But rural has lots of opportunities.

They also want to be able to compete for a lot of these companies as well, and having the available and talented workforce for these companies is going to help us become more competitive.

I was going to say becoming more competitive, having this initiative just there, just existing and now expansion here, it's got to help attract some businesses.

I mean, TSMC is a huge magnet, but I mean, you could use all the help you get I would imagine.

Yeah, absolutely.

I think the more you get big companies, the more you have supply chain companies looking at your state.

And so we really want to show companies that we have the available talent now, but we're also meeting their needs for future growth.

This isn't just a great place to land your business.

It's also a great place to grow your business.

And we want to be prepared for the workforce needed.

Last question is that message getting across?

Yeah, I think so.

I think we're seeing companies be much more sophisticated.

And the questions they're asking about workforce and the states become much more sophisticated and providing the responses and the resources needed.

All right.

Mary Foote, Arizona Office of Economic Opportunity this is the Ready Tech Go initiative that has recently expanded and drive by that TSMC.

It's like it's like a different world.

How many cranes do they have.

Yeah it's it's a lot they're doing a lot there.

And we're prepared to meet their needs.

All right.

Very good.

Good to have you here.

Thanks for sharing you so much.

And that is it for now I'm Ted Simons.

Thank you so much for joining us on this special edition of Arizona Horizon.

You have a great evening.