Craig Schroeder to be keynote speaker at GC2

We are excited to announce that Craig Schroeder of the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship will be the keynote speaker at the 8th Annual Grundy County Growth Conference (GC2):  “Schools, Business, and Community – Meeting Today’s Needs and Building a Pipeline for Tomorrow’s Workforce.”

The event will be Friday, October 11, 2013, from 8:00 am to noon at the First Christian Church, 455 W. Southmor Road, Morris.

Craig Schroeder, Senior Fellow with the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship in Lincoln, Nebraska, grew up on a family farm near Holbrook, population 233, in Southwest Nebraska.  He attended the University of Nebraska and graduated in 1986, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural Economics with emphasis in Rural Community Economics and Marketing.

Craig has been a Senior Fellow with the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship since July 2003.  Of particular note is Craig’s work in creating the Youth Attraction Formula and Youth Engagement System, tools for rural leaders seeking to address chronic outmigration and attract young people to their communities.  Craig is also responsible for leading the Center’s work with the nationally recognized HomeTown Competitiveness, or HTC, Initiative, which integrates youth engagement, entrepreneur-focused economic development, leadership development and community-focused philanthropy in a comprehensive framework for rural community revitalization and growth.

Click here to read more about the Center.

Background

What we hear:

  • The major employers of Grundy County have an aging workforce and are skeptical that today’s youth are prepared for tomorrow’s jobs;
  • Tomorrow’s workforce needs more than a high school education, but may not need a 4-year degree;  there are great careers in Grundy that don’t require a 4-year degree;
  • The major employers of Grundy County need many disciplines of workers, such as engineers, attorneys, human resource managers, information technology, accounting, and marketing – more than just the jobs their company title implies;

What we assume:

  • Grundy high school students want to graduate and leave Grundy County with no desire to build a life here;
  • Grundy students who stay here think there are no jobs for them;

What we know:

  • Grundy County is a great place to live, work, and raise families;
  • Schools and local business & industry need to do a better job of communicating with one another and with students;
  • Communities can be a part of the efforts to deepen the relationship between schools and business;

Therefore, how does Grundy County build a strategy to deepen the relationship among students, parents, schools, business & industry, and the community as a whole to serve the workforce and education needs of our youth and also provide a steady pipeline of ready workers for local business & industry for generations to come?

Additional speakers and panelists to be announced soon.

All public schools, colleges & universities, business & industry, municipalities, students, parents, and the general public in the region are invited to attend.

Please contact Julie Buck at 815-941-0852 or [email protected] for more information.