ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Getting Washtenaw County ready for the jobs of the coming decades will take everyone pulling together, business and education leaders said Friday at a workforce summit hosted by the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber, known as A2Y.
The session, billed as IMPACT: Building Washtenaw’s 2040 Workforce, was built around three pressures the chamber sees bearing down on the region: an aging population, disruption from artificial intelligence and competition from around the world.
Phil Santer, chief operating officer of Ann Arbor SPARK, named one of the biggest problems as holding on to skilled workers once they finish college in the area. Speakers also flagged rising demand for training in the blue-collar trades of the future, and employers were urged to tap programs such as those offered at Washtenaw Community College.
The agenda opened with Darienne Driver Hudson, president and CEO of United Way for Southeastern Michigan, scheduled to walk through ALICE figures, which track households that are employed but short on assets and income. A panel on untapped labor pools was set to include leaders from Washtenaw Community College, the career and technical education program at the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, Jewish Family Services and the EMU College in Prison program.
University of Michigan President Domenico Grasso was on the program for a fireside chat. The day was set to end with Santer and the head of Michigan Works! Southeast, Shamar Herron, asking the room for ideas on closing the county’s workforce gaps by 2040.
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