Summit seeks input on employment needs

The Northern Marianas College and the Workforce Investment Agency are preparing to co-host the CNMI’s first-ever Workforce Development Summit on Nov. 30, 2006, at the Fiesta Resort and Spa Saipan.

Eric Plinske, NMC SBDC director and planning committee chair, recently presented an overview of the Workforce Development Summit to the Saipan Chamber of Commerce at its monthly membership meeting and asked for their support by attending this important event.

The mission of the CNMI Workforce Development Summit is “to bring together business and government leaders to discuss the CNMI’s critical employment needs so that government counseling, training, education, financial assistance, internship, and placement programs can unify their efforts and maximize resources to develop the necessary resident labor talent to fill said positions. The summit will engage audience discussion and incorporate feedback to create a demand-driven action plan that will result in a higher percentage of resident workers employed in the private sector within one year from the date of the summit.”

Attendance at the Workforce Development Summit will be open to the entire community. Plinske hopes that a large number of private business owners, managers and human resource directors will attend to help identify the CNMI’s most critical employment areas and share their thoughts on how the islands, as a community, can properly prepare and place more local residents in the private sector workforce.

Why attend?

– Participate in several breakout sessions that will challenge the audience to come up with solutions on critical workforce topics, the results of which will become part of a proposed action plan;

– Learn about the results of the first ever CNMI High School Senior Survey as well as the 2006 CNMI Employer Survey;

– Learn about the most current labor statistics related to residents and nonresidents in the CNMI workforce;

– Find out which job classifications are mostly held by nonresident workers;

– Hear what the Saipan Chamber of Commerce has to say about the CNMI Workforce;

– Find out what PSS and NMC have planned for the next year;

– Experience a live Video Teleconference broadcast with guest speaker, Ms. Rosemary Cowan, of the U. S. Department of Labor’s Employment Training Administration in San Francisco, California;

– Hear Guam Department of Labor Director, Ms. Maria Connelley, speak about the workforce success stories they are having in Guam, particularly with a One-Stop Career Center;

– Find out about the government training, funding and placement programs available for companies and job seekers and provide your recommendations on how to improve their services.

For more information and to save by pre-registering for the 2006 CNMI Workforce Development Summit ($15 pre-registration rate; $20 at the door) contact Eric Plinske at the NMC SBDC (NMC Building V, Room 216) at 670-234-5498 ext. 1830; fax 670-235-5383; or by emailing him at ericp@nmcnet.edu. Payment will be required by all participants no later than the date of the summit. Payment can be made by cash, check or original Purchase Order at the event. If you would like to pay in advance by credit card, contact Plinske at the NMC SBDC to find out how to go about doing so since credit card payments will not be accepted at the summit event on Nov. 30. [B][I](PR)
[/I][/B]