CLARKSDALE, Miss.–A gathering of minds in Clarksdale Monday is set to have putting you to work as its top priority. It’s an economic summit in Clarksdale, at Coahoma Community College, and it’s called “Reimagining the Delta Workforce”.
Delta Regional Authority Federal Co-Chairman Chris Masingill will join Gov. Phil Bryant and regional, state, and local leadership to discuss opportunities to strengthen and enhance workforce development systems in Mississippi.
That means they are discussing ways to get you certified and ready for work so that businesses will locate in the Delta, when they know that there is a work force who can do the job.
What that means, essentially, is that the Delta Regional Authority is putting $1.7 million toward making sure Mississippians are trained, certified, and ready to work as skilled labor, and that manufacturers who want to locate in the state know it.
Gov. Phil Bryant and the Delta Regional Authority outlined their plans in June at a news conference at the state capitol.
”Just like the flow of the Mississippi River, the Delta economy is constantly changing and we need to change with it,” said Masingill. “Working with our state partners, we are committed to overhauling the way we train our workers and the way we identify the jobs of the future and connect our people to the skills they need. This initiative is aimed at strengthening our workforce, encouraging lifelong learning, and increasing the standard of living in the region.”
Bryant, stressing how important having a trained workforce can be in luring jobs to the area, cited Yokohama Tire and West Point as an example.
“Yokohama Tire could have gone to 3,000 different locations,” he said. “They came there because of the effort that Mississippi has put into re-training the work force. We’ve had a remarkable record with Toyota, Nissan. Mississippi workers are the workers of America. Our work force, our work ethic is what helped build this country and this state and we’re gonna do more of it in the future.”
