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Today's Realities—Tomorrow's Workforce: Addressing Region 7's Rural Workforce Mismatch

January 31, 2017

At a Glance

The rural counties of Region 7, a sub-state area designated by the state of Alabama to address workforce development issues, has yet to fully recover from the 2007 economic recession. This report outlines Region 7’s education and workforce needs.

Contributors
Mary V.L. Wright
James Shanahan
Steve Quimby
Topics

The Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council leadership is concerned about workforce challenges in the southwest corner of the state. The rural counties of Region 7, a sub-state area designated by the state for addressing workforce development issues, have lagged behind their urban neighbors in recovering from the economic recession of 2007. SAWDC recognizes that a new and expanded effort is required to improve the rural economy and better align demand and supply of workers attempting to connect around real-time hiring needs.

This report presents the findings and recommendations from an 11-month long analysis of current and projected education and workforce development needs in the rural counties of Region 7 in Alabama. The Delta Regional Authority-funded project will help the workforce collaborative SAWDC and its partners to develop programs and systems-based policies to build a more connected, comprehensive workforce system among education systems and business and industry sectors.

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