PR 2006 Jun U2

Shelton State to Participate in Regional Transformation Program

Tuscaloosa - Shelton State Community College is one of only four Alabama community colleges chosen to participate in the "Economic Transformation of Rural West Alabama-East Mississippi Alliance."

The Alliance's vision is to pull together the region's stakeholders, rising above the past and increasing opportunities for prosperity, by creating a world-renowned, regional identity reflecting its enterprise-centric workforce.

The program is funded through the U.S. Department of Labor's WIRED (Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development) initiative, through which the U.S. Department of Labor will invest $195 million in thirteen regional economies, each receiving $15 million over a three-year period.

The goal of the WIRED initiative is to transform regional economies by enlisting the skills of the numerous and varied players in those economies to research and produce long-term strategic plans that prepare workers for high-skill, high-wage opportunities in the coming years and into the next decade.

"We are launching the WIRED initiative to encourage regional communities to partner together and leverage their collective public and private sector assets and resources to develop a more highly skilled workforce that can act as the linchpin to attract new economic development and employers," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao in a press release.

The Economic Transformation of Rural West Alabama - East Mississippi Alliance is a partnership for prosperity in thirty-six counties in the states of Alabama and Mississippi. The Alliance's vision is to pull together the region's stakeholders, rising above the past and increasing opportunities for prosperity, by creating a world-renowned, regional identity reflecting its enterprise-centric workforce.

Partners, in addition to Shelton State Community College and seven other schools two-year schools in Alabama and Mississippi, include the following:

State Workforce Investment Boards; Demopolis University Coalition; Mid-South Partnership for Rural Community Colleges; public school districts and state systems; state, regional, and local economic development entities; U.S. Department of Agriculture - Rural Development; Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians; industry; philanthropic organizations; Alabama Governor's Black Belt Action Commission; Commission on the Future of East Mississippi - West Alabama; Planning and Development Districts; and county and local governments.

The Alliance's goals for the region are to build regional identity around a globally recognized, enterprise-centric workforce; to build a globally recognized, regionally branded workforce by networking and enhancing existing delivery systems and program elements and to integrate workforce, enterprise, industrial development, research, community, and educational development into an innovative regional system.

Dr. Rick Rogers, President of Shelton State Community College, said, "We are pleased that Shelton State's leadership in the workforce development arena has been recognized in this much needed initiative.  We look forward to working closely with the Alliance to better the quality of life for all the citizens of West Alabama and East Mississippi."