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Background
In summer 2017, local economic development staff began speaking with businesses about their dire need for employees. These conversations revealed that regional employers wanted to engage with local students to build workforce pipelines, but did not have connections to the schools and the capacity to manage a program. Meanwhile, the SE Perkins Consortium was facilitating conversations with area school districts to discuss experiential learning opportunities. These school districts were eager to provide experiential learning opportunities for their students, but lacked the community and business partners to offer programming on a larger scale.
Once leaders from these groups converged, it was immediately clear that there was an opportunity to create a “bridge” between the schools and businesses. This new partnership ultimately formed the Bluff Country Collaborative, an innovative effort to connect business, education, local government, and organizations committed to the economic sustainability of the region.
Once leaders from these groups converged, it was immediately clear that there was an opportunity to create a “bridge” between the schools and businesses. This new partnership ultimately formed the Bluff Country Collaborative, an innovative effort to connect business, education, local government, and organizations committed to the economic sustainability of the region.
Vision
The vision of the Bluff Country Collaborative (BCC) is to ensure the economic vitality of rural communities in Houston and Fillmore Counties by integrating schools, employers, local government, and community resources in an effort to provide meaningful, hands-on experience to the next generation of workers.
Introducing Career Navigators
Many large schools in urban areas have the capacity to create robust work-based learning programs in partnership with large companies in their communities. Small schools in rural communities may lack the capacity to create such programs because of fewer resources and remote location. However, small schools do have the opportunities to be nimble and innovative, develop personal relationships with their students, and collaborate with other schools in their region. The BCC aims to facilitate that collaboration to make experiential learning not only a possibility for rural students, but an enriched, meaningful opportunity that is also financial-sustainable for schools.
A major step in moving forward in this work is the role of Career Navigators, who serve as a bridge between businesses and schools. The primary focus for Career Navigators is coordinating experiential learning opportunities, relevant to community needs.
A major step in moving forward in this work is the role of Career Navigators, who serve as a bridge between businesses and schools. The primary focus for Career Navigators is coordinating experiential learning opportunities, relevant to community needs.