Journal Article
Learning in the Fast Lane
Fessenden, Helen (2017)
Dale Phillips, a night-shift maintenance supervisor at BMW's plant in Spartanburg, S.C., is busy balancing a full-time job with online coursework to complete a bachelor's degree in management. He oversees a team of equipment-services associates in the plant's paint shop, whose duties include preventing equipment breakdowns in the conveyors, lifts, pumps, and industrial robots. He says he never envisioned such a career until four years ago, when he started at the plant as an apprentice after spending most of his 20s and 30s as a grocery store manager.
Econ Focus , Issue 4Q , Pages 18-21

Journal Article
From Classroom to Career: An Overview of Current Workforce Development Trends, Issues and Initiatives
DiFranco, Daniel; Patton, Ryan; Engel, Emily (2014)
Earlier this year, Community Development and Policy Studies (CDPS) staff at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago released a report on its Industrial Cities Initiative (ICI).[1] The report features a quantitative assessment of ten Midwestern “industrial cities” that is augmented by more than 175 interviews with city leadership. The report explores whether – and to what extent – these cities have been able to withstand a decline in manufacturing employment since the 1960s. Workforce development was the most common and ...
Profitwise , Issue Fall , Pages 1-37

Journal Article
Seventh District Workforce Development Programs That Serve Marginalized and Disadvantaged Populations
Engel, Emily (2015)
In 2011, the Community Development and Policy Studies (CDPS) division of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago launched the Industrial Cities Initiative (ICI) to take a close look at 10 former industrial/manufacturing hubs and their economic evolution over the last 50 years.
Profitwise , Issue 2 , Pages 10-15

Journal Article
Investing in Healthy Communities: Ideas to Action for Healthy People, Places, and Planet - A Conference Summary
Riggenbach, Jennifer; Richter, Lisa; Kuehl, Steven; Longworth, Susan (2017)
The Wisconsin Rapids event was the third in a Wisconsin series and built on earlier events in Milwaukee (December 2014)2 and Platteville (July 2015)3. Co-sponsored by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and local leaders, the earlier conferences highlighted the connections between health, community development, and economic development in urban and rural communities, as well as the opportunities for these fields to improve outcomes by working together. This third conference focused on the role of investing to build healthy communities, including how financial investments by banks and socially ...
Profitwise , Issue 2 , Pages 8-27

Journal Article
Workforce 2020: Is It Time for Disruptive Innovation?
Walzer, Norman; Keller, Jason; Robinson, Diana (2015)
Whether framed as a gap, a shortage or a mismatch, skill problems drive discussions around workforce and education policy today. Employers say they are not getting qualified candidates from educational institutions; unions and workforce advocates say that if employers looked harder and offered increased wages and improved benefits, qualified workers could be found. At the same time, community colleges and vocational training centers say that rapid changes in technology make it cost-prohibitive to buy the latest machines and training tools. Aspiring workers say they are unaware of the ...
Profitwise , Issue 4 , Pages 24-32

Speech
Unrealized gains: investing in our region's economic and human capital potential
Harker, Patrick T. (2015-11-04)
President Patrick T. Harker discusses investing in our region?s economic and human capital potential at Capital for Communities: Pay for Success Financing, a conference hosted by the Philadelphia Fed's Community Development Studies & Education Department.
Speech , Paper 112

Speech
Investing in America’s Workforce
Harker, Patrick T. (2017-10-05)
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker spoke at the Fed?s Investing in America?s Workforce conference in Austin, TX. His presentation covered the findings of a new Fed report on workforce development.
Speech , Paper 142

Speech
An Economic Outlook
Harker, Patrick T. (2019-02-13)
Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker gave an economic outlook and focused on skills and the workforce to the Jewish Business Network in Philadelphia. Harker said that employers struggle to fill high-skilled jobs, which are less likely to be automated. ?The reality of the tight labor market means that employers have to start thinking creatively and long term about how they?re going to address the gap between the skills they want and need and those available in the labor pool,? he said.
Speech , Paper 157