MassBenchmarks

Knowledge Corridor Talent and Workforce Strategy

Daniel Hodge, Lindsay Koshgarian, Will Provost, and Ryan Wallace

(June 2014)

For the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission and the Knowledge Corridor Sustainability Plan, the UMass Donahue Institute led the development of a "cradle to career" talent and workforce strategic plan for the bi-state (CT and MA) Knowledge Corridor stretching from Hartford to Springfield to Greenfield, MA. The Knowledge Corridor is home to enviable assets, including world-class colleges and universities, and many strong areas of talent and workforce development. At a high level, the region is generally competitive with the U.S. overall in educational attainment, wage levels, unemployment rates, and other key measures. But, the region does not fare as well as the statewide averages for either Massachusetts or Connecticut across virtually all key education and workforce indicators. And the performance of the overall region masks staggering economic and demographic conditions in the region’s urban core cities. The 18 point plan for improvement in education and workforce training is critical for today and the future — too many adults did not achieve a high school degree (or higher) and are not even measured in the labor force; and too many children are not enrolled in early education / pre-school and are scoring at below basic levels of reading and math.