The ETA program represents new and innovative thinking by

* proactively building relationships with companies in Aerospace, Bioscience, Energy and IT industries

* listening to industry training needs

* utilizing the employment potential of workforce center for adults and high school students

* customizing curriculum to engineer relevant workforce talent development

* coordinating hands-on work internships.

The ETA parnters: ADW, ACC, DCSD, and DCEF will expand their partnerships with businesses, economic development, K-12, post-secondary educational institutions, WIRED industry consortia and other local workforce development entities to provide substantial economic benefit and increase the flow of needed skilled workers in the WIRED industries.

Currently, there is a large disconnect between the technical needs of WIRED industries and the educational background of potential employees.  Businesses rarely express their training needs clearly to educational organizations, and the course curricula found in traditional education settings rarely focus on the skills and knowledge required by industry.  There is a general lack of understanding by education of the real-world needs of industry.  To bridge this serious gap and to meet specific employee shortages, the ETA partners have committed to developing curricula together, to increasing internship opportunities, to facilitate networking for job placements, and to providing business externships for educators.

The ETA will address several critical labor shortages specific to the targeted industries and will create a direct pipeline of home-grown workers with the skills to address their labor needs. The ETA will use the career pathways model that emerged from WIRED industry panel discussions to explain career options to potential workers.  According to the 9/3/07 CAEL Report, career ladders are most needed for technicians, an occupation that enables all four WIRED industries.

The ETA will create a direct pipeline of local highly-trained skilled workers to address the technician shortages in targeted industries.  The ETA's curricula will address both technical and professional skills, and will provide real-world experience.  Through the ETA, a strong connection between industry and education will be established.  According to the WIRED Workforce Study, this connection will create a stronger workforce: "By partnering with local businesses to help train these students with the skills they will need…a stronger workforce is created."

The Metro Denver WIRED Workforce Study suggests that the most needed common skills for the four targeted industries include strong computer programming and hardware skills, basic electronics, laboratory/manufacturing technological skills, and professional skills such as communication, teamwork, critical thinking, and leadership. This application addresses the disconnect identified between industry and education by creating strong partnerships to develop relevant curricula, and increase availability of hands-on training components to address the lack of understanding of real-world needs of the industry.  The ETA's training modules will address both technical and professional skills, and will provide real-world experience leading to unsubsidized employment.