Copyright M Live Michigan
MIDLAND, MI – A business summit put on by the Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance will focus on early childhood workforce development in the Great Lakes Bay Region. Business and community leaders will gather in Midland next week to discuss workforce development solutions centered on early childhood initiatives during the Great Lakes Bay Region Early Childhood Business Summit. The summit, scheduled for 8 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, Oct. 29, at the Dow Diamond, 825 E. Main St., aims to share talent development, attraction and retention resources with regional leadership. Organizers say the event’s collective goal is to build the workforce of tomorrow while supporting the workforce of today. Gabrielle Pepin, an applied microeconomist specializing in public and labor economics, will speak at the event. Pepin’s work focuses on parental labor supply and tax and expenditure programs targeted at families with children, including child care subsidies and welfare. Other speakers include Brady Duke, the economic development coordinator with Saginaw Future; Gretchen Wagner, the director of early childhood education at Bay-Arenac Intermediate School District; Kathy Szenda Wilson, the co-executive director with Pulse at the WE Upjohn Institute for Employment Research; Kati Mora, the president and CEO of Middle Michigan Development Corp.; Robin Benson, the manager of educational services with MyMichigan Health; Sara Parker, the director of workforce development at the Bay Area Chamber of Commerce; and MI Tri-Share Senior Program Advisor Michigan Department for Lifelong Education Shannon Garrett. The summit is designed to connect influential business and community leaders with workforce development solutions that organizers say will improve the regional economy. Those interested can register for the event online.
