RAGBRAI ’12 Wrap-up

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Iowa is not that flat when you’re on a bike…

RAGBRAI ’12 has wrapped up for Becky without incident.  That’s if you don’t count temperatures as high as 112, 20 mph headwinds, campsite storm evacuations, heat rash, sore knees, etc.  They were off the bikes and on the road home by about 4:30 and made pretty good time, getting home about 9:00pm. 

Thanks to everyone that showed their support!

There’s still time to fill out the CPEG survey today!

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If you haven’t taken the time to fill out the CPEG survey, please do so.  It’s important that all local business participate to achieve the best results.  As of Wednesday, Marshall County had the poorest participation rate!  That’s not good!!!

You can read more about it and find the survey links in our previous post here (or just scroll down a couple of posts.)  The survey is scheduled to close today, so please take a few minutes to give us your input!

The Longest Password

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I got this joke in an email.  I thought it was worth sharing here.

During a recent password audit, a company found that an employee was using the following password:

MickeyMinniePlutoHueyLouieDeweyDonaldGoofySacramento

When asked why she had such a long password, she rolled her eyes and replied:  “Hello!?!  You told me it had to be at least eight characters long and include one capital!”

 

Coalition Launches First Step in Developing a Comprehensive Talent Strategy for Michiana

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Whether you employ sewing machine operators or software developers, teachers or technicians, CNC operators or CNAs, finding and developing talent is mission critical.  It’s also mission critical for the future growth of our region, and that is why your participation in this study is needed.

Marshall County Economic Development Corporation, the Corporate Partnership for Economic Growth (CPEG), and other regional economic development and education stakeholders are partnering in an effort to better understand the workforce needs of local business and industry. 

This collaborative Regional Workforce Initiative has three goals: 

  1. Fill specific existing positions – through recruitment, re-training, etc.
  2. Assess general workforce skills deficits to address through education and workforce programs
  3. Assess emerging industries and workforce needs to develop a complete workforce plan for 2020

You can be a part of this initiative by completing the workforce survey located here.  

The goal of the survey is to quantify the number of open positions, assess skills gaps, and identify barriers to company growth related to workforce issues.  

The survey will take approximately 15 minutes, and should be completed by business owners, managers, human resource managers or someone with in-depth knowledge of your company’s current and future hiring needs.  The survey requests information about current full-time openings and anticipated openings over the next 6 months, including salary, skills, and education requirements.  You cannot save your responses and return later. 

All information will be kept confidential.

The survey will be open until Friday, July 27th.  Results will be compiled to inform work sessions focused on identifying solutions to address the barriers to filling existing positions. Only companies in Marshall, Kosciusko, Elkhart, St. Joseph and Fulton Counties that complete the survey are eligible to participate in these work sessions.

Additional details about the Regional Workforce Initiative, including a list of the regional partners supporting this effort, can be found at www.cpeg.org.

Thank you for your time in completing the survey, and for helping to be a part of the solution!