2012 Help Wanted Conference

Print [1] | Email | Share

Governor Bob McDonnell
Commonwealth of Virginia

Margaret Spellings
U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Rick Stephens
The Boeing Company

Patrick M. Byrne
Overstock.com, Inc.

Click here to watch the archived webcast! [2]

Join the conversation on Twitter using #icwhelpwanted

Here are the facts:

Approximately 90% of the jobs in the fastest-growing occupations require some level of postsecondary education and training.
Once first in the world, the United States now ranks 10th in the percentage of young adults with a college degree.
Eighty to ninety million adults today, about half of the workforce, do not have the skills required to acquire or advance in jobs that pay a family-sustaining wage.
There are more than 3.4 million jobs in the United States that remain unfilled due to an unskilled workforce.

Join us for the 2012 HELP WANTED conference on September 20 in Washington, D.C. for a robust conversation on how America is addressing the skills gap crisis. This exciting one day conference will bring together business leaders, policy makers, and innovative education organizations to discuss a wide variety of issues throughout postsecondary education and the workforce.

Learn about topics like:

Innovation in higher education
States that are serious about reform
Highly skilled talent crisis
Rebuilding workforce development
And many more

Date:

September 20, 2012

Agenda:


8:30 - 9:00 a.m.	Registration and breakfast
9:00 - 9:10 a.m.	Welcome and Opening Keynote Introduction Margaret Spellings, President, Forum for Policy Innovation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
9:10 - 9:25 a.m.	Opening Keynote Governor Bob McDonnell, Governor, Commonwealth of Virginia
9:25 - 10:35 a.m.	Skills Gap Roundtable Business leaders in vital industries will discuss how the skills gap is affecting their industry and hiring practices. Moderator: Domenic Giandomenico, Director of Education and Workforce Programs, Institute for a Competitive Workforce Melanie Holmes, Vice President, Manpower Mark J. Schmit, Ph.D., Vice President of Research, Society for Human Resource Management Jean Wallace, Vice President of Human Resources, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company Sandy Westlund-Deenihan, President, Quality Float Works, Inc.
10:35 - 10:45 a.m.	Break
10:45 - 12:00 p.m.	Breakout Discussions Workforce Investment Act's (WIA) Tabula Rasa What if you had the chance to start the Workforce Investment Act from scratch? This breakout conversation will discuss the federal government's involvement in workforce development and steps to make WIA's impact more beneficial to business. Facilitator: Christine Scullion, Director of Human Resources Policy, The Manufacturing Institute Realigning Education Outputs with Business Needs This breakout conversation will discuss how to enter into and maintain successful partnerships between business and education that work towards realigning the pipeline from student to worker. Facilitator: Peggy Walton, Senior Director, Workforce Readiness, Corporate Voices for Working Families Candice Carpenter Olson, Co-Founder, Fullbridge Lucia Folk, Senior Director, Public Affairs, Country Music Television Willy Kaulfersch, Manager, Launch Planning and Workforce Readiness, Ford Motor Company Dr. Merrilea Mayo, Lead Strategist, New Options Project Gary Saganski, Director, Corporate Training Division, Henry Ford Community College
12:00 - 12:15 p.m.	Break
12:15 - 1:15 p.m.	Lunch Keynote Introduction Cheryl Oldham, Vice President, Institute for a Competitive Workforce Lunch Keynote Patrick M. Byrne, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Overstock.com, Inc.
1:15 - 1:25 p.m	Break
1:25 - 2:35 p.m.	Higher Education Innovation This panel will address the need for innovation in higher education by linking the contributions of for-profit institutions, venture capitalists, and other "disruptive innovators" and identify barriers to innovation. Moderator: David Parento, Chief Operating and Financial Officer, StraighterLine Jim Applegate, Vice President of Program Development, Lumina Foundation Mark Brenner, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Apollo Group Bob Sheets, Director of Research at Business Innovation Services, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
2:35 - 2:45 p.m.	Break
2:45 - 4:00 p.m.	Discussions We recognize that the skills gap impacts all aspects of business. These conversations will engage several U.S. Chamber experts on various areas of interest including energy and STEM, immigration, cyber security, and Veteran's Affairs. Ann Beauchesne, Vice President, National Security & Emergency Preparedness, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Christopher Guith, Vice President for Policy, Institute for 21st Century Energy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Randy Johnson, Senior Vice President of Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Kevin Schmiegel, Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Executive Director, Hiring Our Heroes
4:00 - 4:10 p.m.	Break
4:10 - 5:20 p.m.	Moving the Needle Having conversations about how to align education with labor market needs is important. However, even more critical is the need to take action and put pen to paper on initiatives that will improve our worforce's ability to compete in the global economy. This group, led by Rick Stephens, will discuss action steps to take the conversation to a new level. Facilitator: Rick Stephens, Senior Vice President, Human Resources, The Boeing Company
5:20 - 5:30 p.m.	Wrap-up Remarks Cheryl Oldham, Vice President, Institute for a Competitive Workforce
5:30 - 6:30 p.m.	Networking Reception

Location:

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
1615 H Street, NW
Washington, D.C. 20062

Directions [3] | Area Hotels [4]

Speakers:

Jim Applegate, Vice President of Program Development, Lumina Foundation

Ann Beauchesne, Vice President, National Security & Emergency Preparedness, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Mark Brenner, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, Apollo Group

Patrick M. Byrne, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Overstock.com, Inc.

Lucia Folk, Senior Director, Public Affairs, Country Music Television

Christopher Guith, Vice President for Policy, Institute for 21st Century Energy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Melanie Holmes, Vice President, World of Work Solutions, Manpower Group

Randy Johnson, Senior Vice President of Labor, Immigration, and Employee Benefits, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Willy Kaulfersch, Manager, Launch Planning and Workforce Readiness, Ford Motor Company

Dr. Merrilea Mayo, Lead Strategist, New Options Project

Bob McDonnell, Governor, Commonwealth of Virginia

Cheryl Oldham, Vice President, Institute for a Competitive Workforce, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Candice Carpenter Olson, Co-Founder, Fullbridge

David Parento, Chief Operating and Financial Officer, StraighterLine

Gary Saganski, Director, Corporate Training Division, Henry Ford Community College

Kevin Schmiegel, Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Executive Director, Hiring Our Heroes

Mark J. Schmit, Ph.D., Vice President of Research, Society for Human Resource Management

Christine Scullion, Director of Human Resources Policy, The Manufacturing Institute

Bob Sheets, Director of Research at Business Innovation Services, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Margaret Spellings, Former U.S. Secretary of Education, President, U.S. Forum for Policy Innovation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Rick Stephens, Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Administration, The Boeing Company

Jean Wallace, Vice President of Human Resources, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company

Peggy Walton, Senior Director, Workforce Readiness, Corporate Voices for Working Families

Sandy Westlund-Deenihan, President, Quality Float Works, Inc.

Contact Info:

Email us [5] or call 202-463-5525

Legislative employees AND MEMBERS OF CONGRESS should consult with the House and Senate ethics office, as appropriate, to determine whether there would be any prohibition on their attendance at this event. Executive branch employees should obtain written permission to attend this event from their designated agency ethics OFFICER and should fax or email a copy of the permission to 202-463-3129 or email at icw@uschamber.com [6] prior to the event.