By Industry & Sector Partnership Apprentice Aziz Vahobov
For the last several months the Colorado Workforce Development Council (CWDC) has observed increasing numbers of building new sector partnerships in Colorado. In 2024, the CWDC participated and supported five sector partnership launches, bringing the total to 30 active sector partnerships currently in operation.
There are four recommended steps that local communities and organizations can take in order to initiate the launch of a new sector partnership in their communities:
- Build your regional support team & make the case for a new approach
- Defining the scope of industry focus;
- Preparing to launch; and
- Launch (Hosting the launch meeting).
Uniting for Success: The Building Blocks of A Sector Partnership Launch Meeting
A sector partnership launch meeting is one of the essential steps on building a sector partnership. This meeting brings together business from a specific industry and community and public organizations. A regional support team, which is often represented by workforce development centers, chambers of commerce, community-based organizations and other stakeholders, usually organize and facilitate the launch meeting in their communities.
In the spring I was able to participate in a launch meeting of the Pikes Peak Creative Sector Partnership hosted at the Cottonwood Center for the Arts in Colorado Springs. Participating in this meeting gave me an opportunity to observe one of the initial stages of the process of building a new sector partnership.
The launch meeting was initiated and organized by the regional support team, representing the Pikes Peak Workforce Center, Bee Vradenburg Foundation, Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, and the Better Business Bureau of Southern Colorado.
The launch meeting brought together businesses from creative industries as well as community and public partners. More than 20 participants representing clothing fashion, culinary, digital marketing, media, music, videography, knob hill arts district, and other industries, attended to celebrate the kickoff and share their thoughts on industry trends, challenges and opportunities for improvement.
Participants were placed in the room based on the meeting setup suggested by the Next Gen Sector Partnerships model. The model places industry or business representatives at the table in the middle of the room. All non-employer or public partners are placed around the employers. According to the Next Gen Sector Partnerships model, this type of meeting setup is aimed to create an environment where all discussions are focused on business members' needs and priorities. The role of public partners is convening afterward to discuss implementing action plans that address partners’ needs, challenges and explore ways to get people jobs.
At the beginning participants discussed what sector partnerships are and why they matter. Following the discussion, representatives from the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region and Bee Vradenburg Foundation presented economic & social impact data related to the creative arts sector to open discussion on current trends.
A brainstorming activity helped business members identify recurring challenges and possible solutions they face in their industry. As a result, public awareness and connection, and professional development were prioritized as main challenges in the creative industry in this region.
In the final stage of the launch meeting, participants discussed their future actions, what other public organizations they can connect with and how they can extend the number of business partners in this partnership. After the meeting, the regional support team discussed their next steps on leading the Pikes Peak Creative Sector Partnership and agreed the action plan.
The launch meeting of a sector partnership is one of the foundation stones for the future success of partnership. To support the launch of the Pikes Peak Creative Sector Partnership the regional support team, together with the local convener, put in a remarkable amount of hard work. And they are continuing supporting this new partnership during its building process.
In Colorado several other regional support teams, including organizations like Colorado Rural Workforce Consortium, Arapahoe/Douglas Works, Boulder Chamber, Arvada Chamber, Fort Collins Area Chamber, Fremont Economic Development Corporation and more, play an important role in sharing the idea of sector partnerships and supporting launch and activities of sector partnerships in their community. CWDC collaborates with the local support partners and conveners, providing them with educational resources and technical support related to the launching of a new sector partnership.
Organizations who are interested in learning more about the sector partnerships model and how to launch a sector partnership may visit the CWDC website to gain the educational resources and contact information of the sector partnerships working around Colorado.