To mark Economic Development Week starting today, the U of A Professional and Workforce Development department wants to share an economic development initiative it has built and implemented to give back to the Northwest Arkansas community.

The International Economic Development Council created Economic Development Week in 2016 to recognize economic development organizations and professionals who work in their communities. They have continued this tradition to promote and raise awareness for local job creation programs, advance career development opportunities and improve communities' quality of life everywhere. 

RazorLearn
RazorLearn is a U of A community-based initiative that connects you with volunteer community experts and civic leaders who want to share special skills and explore shared interests that are relevant to our lives, health and growth.

For this initiative the PWD team, headed by Katie Ricardo, workforce coordinator, gathered proposals from local business owners, U of A alumni and company executives to build a catalog of inspiring and informative course topics.

"We have connected local communities with experts willing to share the knowledge they have worked hard to attain," Ricardo said.

The program is free to the public, and anyone can register. The current course catalog includes lecture categories such as retail, mental health, small business, a Lean Six Sigma White Belt certification and many more.

"The fact that so many people want to donate their time to teach their skills to this community is amazing," Ricardo said. "We already see that residents are attending and getting the most out of this free education offering."

PWD is gearing up to continue this series of classes and is taking new proposals. We want to hear from you if you are a subject matter expert who would like to share skills and knowledge and be part of the forward-thinking effort at the U of A and Northwest Arkansas.

Reimagine
Reimagine Arkansas Workforce Project is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help Arkansas residents get free online career training. The program and our team have helped over 2,000 Arkansans acquire training in 15 career fields, and 74 out of the 75 counties in Arkansas have had participant enrollments. 

Our Reimagine team has been building courses, processing applications and helping thousands of Arkansans gain free online career training since August 2021. Team members have worked closely with the Arkansas Department of Workforce Development, local companies and many participants to offer the best grant-based program possible.

Some courses built to bring skilled workers into the workforce include Industrial Design, Aerospace Composites and Solar Energy (still in the building phase). The grant will end this fall.

"The grant may be ending, but we still have so many more people to help get signed up and begin on their futures," said Kerry Garcia, grant application specialist.

If you or someone you know may qualify for this grant, complete an application by Sept. 29.

PWD team members Kaleb Futch, Mark Berkowick and Austin Conely (former team member) collaborate at Learning Lab in Bentonville.

Reskill Arkansas
PWD partners with the Arkansas Center for Data Science to help individuals start careers through online training. The Reskill AR program helps unemployed or underemployed individuals find stable, well-paying jobs at no cost to them through IT training programs and apprenticeships. Those who participate and gain experience through technology-focused training will discover their skills in demand throughout the state.

Mark Berkowick, assistant director of workforce readiness, has been working with area IT businesses and departments to research demand and pave the way to build the IT workforce in NWA since 2016.

"Some people want a thriving career in IT but don't know where to start and don't want to go back to school for a degree," he said. "We allow those people to take non-credit IT career training courses through the IT Readiness Program and potentially gain an apprenticeship for on-the-job training through Reskill AR."

Reskill AR had 295 participants in 2022. Some jobs in IT include IT generalist, web developer, software developer and cybersecurity specialist.

Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Career Courses
The drone industry is on the rise in NWA. With the increase of drone delivery through local Walmart stores and drones used in agriculture and surveying, we saw an opportunity to help build and promote skilled workers for these jobs.

The PWD team has worked closely with Rich Ham, associate director of the Master of Science in Operations Management in the College of Engineering, to offer a hybrid, non-credit introductory drone class. Ham has almost 40 years of expertise in security, safety operations, program administration, compliance and enforcement. He has taught local area high school students the basics of drone operations and brought that curriculum to U of A PWD to offer to the rest of the community.

PWD will announce a new course this month that offers online training for drone pilots who have already received FAA certification and want to take their skills to the next level.  

"Economic development is a multidimensional and continuous process utilized to create access for people and geographic regions," said LaShanda Owens, PWD manager. "Greater access removes barriers and provides people and regions with the capability to choose their own destiny. Our PWD team is skilled at defining and building training that helps bridge the gaps between industry, education and human capital. What this team does for the local area and the great state of Arkansas is amazing! Reimagine, Reskill and RazorLearn are just a few of the many ways PWD has engaged with the citizens of Arkansas. I am proud to be a part of this amazing team."

Current career opportunities within the U of A Professional and Workforce department include:

Program Coordinator

Special Projects Analyst

About the University of Arkansas Global Campus and Professional and Workforce Development: The Global Campus provides expertise in developing and delivering both academic and training courses and offers instructional design services, media production, and assistance with program planning and marketing. U of A Professional and Workforce Development, a division of the Global Campus, is a hub for professional and workforce development programs and courses. For a complete list of services available, visit the U of A Professional and Workforce Development website.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research News.