This week our guest speaker Chris Rishko from Bay County MI Works gave the club an update on the state of our local workforce, and provided details about MI Career Quest.
Chris began by explaining that although Michigan's population is predicted to increase in the next 25 years, Bay County's population is predicted to decline in the same period by 50K.
On the upside, the current unemployment rate is down for Bay County and we have full employment for the region.
"Everyone who wants to work is working," Chris said.
Next, Chris spoke of an event coming up on October 30th at SVSU's Ryder Center. The event is called MI Career Quest. It is designed to grow and maintain our local workforce by connecting employees and employers and introducing people to various career options.
Some of the steps being taken to ensure those goals are:
- Retain current employees
- Develop current employees
- Attract new employees
- Guide our future workforce by working with business & education partners, and exploring various career options
MI Career Quest targets students from 8th grade and up, and connects them with possible future employers. It exposes students to extensive career options in high demand fields such as advanced manufacturing, construction, electrical engineering, agri-business, and the heath sciences.
Chris emphasized that this event is not a career fair. It is a way for students to learn directly from employers and be given hands-on experience alongside working professionals.
MI Career Quest has had 10K students register, and had over 90 employers sign up to take part in the event. In addition, they have raised over $250K for the event proving that there is both a great need and desire for such a program.
