HIA-LI, one of the recognized voices for Long Island Business and a powerful force in regional and economic development, has launched “Tomorrow’s Workforce,” a task force dedicated to fostering direct collaboration between Long Island institutions of higher education and the Long Island business community. Tomorrow’s Workforce will begin by partnering with Stony Brook University to create a direct pipeline between the career placement office and HIA-LI, study the issue of talent retention, and create a blueprint for how Long Island businesses and students can effectively collaborate. This model will be used as a template and rolled out to other educational institutions on Long Island.
“HIA-LI is leading the way again to grow the regional economy,” said HIA-LI President & CEO Terri Alessi-Miceli. “What good is having the second largest innovation park in the nation [the Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge, for which HIA-LI is steward] if the talent coming out of our universities isn’t aware of the job opportunities in this jewel? At the HIA-LI, we are moving this critical initiative forward to make sure Long Island students and businesses know about the incredible resources they have in each other.”
HIA-LI board members Dr. Ann-Marie Scheidt of Stony Brook University and Sue Gubing of Career Smarts are co-chairing the task force, which uses the tagline “Tomorrow’s Workforce Starts Today” to emphasize the importance of engaging with current students on the verge of starting careers.
“A well-connected workforce is key to Long Island’s prosperity,” said Gubing. “The innovative activities of the task force will ensure that Long Island’s future workforce will continue to flourish.”
Through the partnership with Stony Brook University, Tomorrow’s Workforce is planning high-level CEO mixers on campus to bring awareness to students of Long Island’s innovative businesses, and to introduce business leaders to the extraordinary talent already being cultivated on Long Island.
“Stony Brook’s focus on research and its immense talent pool makes the university a perfect fit to partner with Tomorrow’s Workforce and create the model for working with other colleges and universities going forward,” added Joe Campolo, HIA-LI Board Chairman.