Michigan Business Network

RADIO SHOW

Bottom Line I.T. with Mike Maddox and Erik Jacobsen

RECORDED at ASK

September 18, 2018

RADIO SHOW

Bottom Line I.T. with Mike Maddox and Erik Jacobsen

RECORDED at ASK

September 18, 2018

RADIO SHOW

Bottom Line I.T. with Mike Maddox and Erik Jacobsen

RECORDED at ASK

September 18, 2018

On this segment of Michigan Business Beat is Jamie Engel, Executive Director of Career and Technical Education. Career and Technical Education is the CAMW! Most Valuable Partner for the month of September. He shares some information on Career and Technical Education program and dispels some myths of CTE.

Myth 1: Let’s start with the biggest myth…that career and technical education is for poor performing students or students who do NOT go on to college or postsecondary training.

Students that are enrolled in career and technical education programs are more likely to graduate from high school than their peers. In addition, at the Wilson Talent Center, approximately 80% of our students go on to training beyond high school; which could mean an apprenticeship, a certification, an associate or bachelor's degree. Last year students earned 609 certifications while they were still in high school. This training is quite rigorous. Last year $235,000 was given out in scholarships to students.We have to remember that CTE is an option for students, and if we direct their career readiness areas into the right realm, CTE can be a game changer across the board. It can move students through industry quicker and provide employees for businesses sooner.

Myth 2: Career and technical education programs lead to careers with low wages.

If you look at many of the high demand, high wage jobs that are going unfilled you will see positions in information technology, healthcare, business and manufacturing. Getting a head start in these industries while students are still in high school benefits our students and businesses. CTE programs put our students on an accelerated path to earn their degree, or credentials, and to begin working sooner. We offer training in health care, computer programming, engineering, business and risk management, and many more.

If you look on the going-pro website, you will see the median salaries for positions in these fields:

• Plumbers: $65,000 (13% projected job growth);

• Web Developers: $61,000 (13% projected job growth),

• Cardiovascular Technicians: $55,000 (9% projected job growth),

• Physical Therapy Assistants: $51,000 (31% projected job growth)

In many industries, employers will pay you while you continue to be trained onsite or pay for offsite training which may include college as well. That is a significant costs savings for students in addition to not having the amount of debt that some professions have, earning lower wages.

Jeff Mosher welcomes Jaime Counterman new Director for Ele's Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Last week, Ele's Place Grand Rapids, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing support for grieving children and their families, announced that it hired Jaime Counterman as the new Director of the organization's West Michigan office.

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Founder, president, and CEO of Strategic Staffing Solutions (S³) Cindy Pasky is on the Be Investable podcast, talking about the four benchmarks that become the corporate pillars of S³. Find out what they are and how you can apply those same benchmarks to your emerging business to garner success.

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Experience Grand Rapids and other DMOs offer the Certified Tourism Ambassador program. Bennet discusses with Ronk the value of the program in creating docents and more professional hospitality personnel in every corner of the destination.

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The story of the collaboration between Doug Small and Tom Bennett, the leadership duo at Experience Grand Rapids. Get to know the background of Small and Bennett and their story of how they met, supported each other’s careers and now have each other’s back.

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Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO) are known for not being able to quote room rates. Tom Bennett, vice president of sales & services for Experience Grand Rapids clarifies this misnomer.

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Tom Bennett, vice president of sales & services for Experience Grand Rapids shares what makes Grand Rapids special and the core principles that are the foundation for success. The major principle is collaboration. Bennett shares how Grand Rapids has implemented this principle for the implementation of ArtPrize, the Beer City Passport, among other examples.

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