Sunday, June 3, 2007
Contact: Jessica Robinson, 573-751-0290
Blunt Opens Southern Growth Conference; Delivers Report on Southern Workforce Challenges
ST. LOUIS ––Gov. Matt Blunt today opened the Southern Growth Conference and presented a report outlining how Southern states can work to optimize opportunity in the region.
"Workers are no longer competing for jobs against peers from other states or regions but instead are up against workers across the globe," Blunt said. "All states must make an effort to ensure that their students are well versed in the subjects of math and science that are critical for their success in the global economy."
Blunt serves as Chairman of the Southern Growth Policies Board and presented the 2007 Report on the Future of the South to the regional audience. The report acknowledges the workforce challenges facing the entire Southern region.
The report notes that some Southern states lag in economic performance and academic achievement but offers hope and provides strategies and models to close existing gaps.
Blunt outlined the report that recommends a three-step strategy for making the cultural shift towards an enterprise economy: CONVENE, CONNECT, and COMMIT. CONVENE encourages governors and other Southern leaders to hold a series of conversations to ensure stakeholders are communicating, and that parents, students and businesses are involved in developing solutions. CONNECT encourages strategies to coordinate existing education and workforce training to maximize effectiveness. COMMIT focuses on the commitment to build a Southern workforce that is knowledgeable, entrepreneurial and innovative.
In Missouri, Gov. Blunt has made a commitment to increase Missouri students’ proficiency in the areas of math and science, cornerstones of tomorrow's jobs. Blunt's Math, Engineering, Technology and Science (METS) initiative is designed to help Missourians understand the importance of METS to our children’s future and the state's ability to compete in the global economy. The governor has also worked to create a climate favorable to job creation that has helped employers and entrepreneurs create more than 93,000 good, family-supporting jobs since he took office in January 2005.
For more information about the Southern Growth Conference or the report visit http://www.southern.org/.
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