The Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP) has released the results of The Workforce Opportunity Project, a research study that will guide the future of workforce training in eastern Kentucky.

The Workforce Opportunity Project used face-to-face interviews to gather detailed data from 100 employers and company decision-makers throughout the 23 mountain counties that EKCEP serves. The employers identified their current and future workforce needs, the job skills that will be in demand over the next five years, and other important aspects of the region’s workforce.

The full study is now available online at www.workforceopportunityproject.com.

The study’s results included some surprises. For example, despite the recent economic downturn 68 percent of employers said they are likely to hire someone for at least one new position in the next five years.

Jeff Whitehead, executive director of EKCEP, said the study was conducted using the best methods available to provide unbiased, scientific information that can be used by EKCEP, businesses, industry organizations, economic development agencies, community colleges and the general public to make important decisions about training and workforce development.

“EKCEP asked employers to help us see the future and define the direction that workforce training should take in eastern Kentucky,” Whitehead said. “This data will be the foundation on which EKCEP and its partners will build policies and programs for the future.”

EKCEP is a Hazard-based nonprofit agency that has served eastern Kentucky with job training and workforce development programs since 1968. Career Span, Inc., an independent career resource firm, conducted the study under contract with EKCEP.

Carla Hunter, president of Career Span, was the study’s project manager and led a team that conducted the rigorously structured interviews with companies of various sizes in the sectors of healthcare, mining, construction and general business.

After the research was completed, Hunter and her team comprehensively categorized, organized and analyzed the data to make it useful for as broad a range of users as possible, including those looking for information on specific job categories, specific industries, or general region-wide trends.

“EKCEP is the lifeblood of eastern Kentucky's success at matching qualified workers with quality jobs,” Hunter said. “The Workforce Opportunity Project is EKCEP's strategy to assist important eastern Kentucky partnerships. This research helps employers by pinpointing the skills their workforce needs, helps community colleges as they focus on skills students will need for future employment, and helps job seekers who need to know how to prepare for a job.”

According to the study, employer priorities include: more economic development activity; more manufacturing jobs; more education and training efforts; and more collaboration.

Many of the skills employers valued highly in the study were general workplace skills, rather than specific job skills. Employers consistently reported a need for employees who are better trained in skills such as professionalism, communication, having a strong work ethic, and being a team player.

Eastern Kentucky’s employers also see room to grow in skills that nearly all of them described as very important. For example: 51 percent of employers felt employees needed better time management skills; 39 percent reported a need for better math skills; and 40 percent said employees should be more efficient at problem solving.

EKCEP has already begun using the results to develop new strategies to meet employer needs. One of the first of these is the development of an Eastern Kentucky Employer Network, where the region’s employers can collaborate and share research and information on workforce issues.

The project’s data will be a valuable tool for all of eastern Kentucky, according to Rocky Adkins, chairman of the EKCEP Workforce Investment Board.

“Eastern Kentucky is a great place. It is a region where we have tremendous people with tremendous talents. All we need to do is give our folks the hope and opportunity that they need — and with these results that we’ve been able to pull in from this research it will really do a broad span of helping develop the skills of the future through our colleges, through our businesses, and helping prepare the workforce of the future,” Adkins said.