Iowa Ag Connection - Reynolds, Gregg Attend 'Fast-Track Iowa's Future'

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Reynolds, Gregg Attend 'Fast-Track Iowa's Future'
Iowa Ag Connection - 06/23/2017

Gov. Kim Reynolds and Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg attended the "Fast-Track Iowa's Future" conference in Des Moines. More than 500 Iowans convened in the Iowa Events Center with the goal of building localized school-business partnerships that inspire and prepare students for STEM careers across the state.

The conference connected students with leaders in business and industry, higher education, K-12, non-profit and state and local government. Eleven panels and 18 showcase presentations highlighted readily replicable best practices around work-based learning opportunities and methods.

"Future Ready Iowa is about meeting our state's need for talent in high-demand business sectors that drive Iowa's economy, like advanced manufacturing, healthcare, agricultural science, information technology, finance and other fields." Gov. Reynolds, co-chair of the Iowa Governor's STEM Advisory Council, said. "That is what this conference was about. Connecting education systems with the recipients they serve -- employers--so that graduates are job-ready for the exciting, meaningful strong wage occupations that await right here in local communities across the state."

Contributing to the Future Ready Iowa vision, the Governor's STEM Council led planning alongside instrumental partners including the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa Workforce Development, Iowa Economic Development Authority, Alliant Energy, Rockwell Collins, the U.S. Department of Labor, Northeast Iowa Community College and more. Funded in part through a grant from the National Governors Association, the event was also supported by Alliant Energy, AT&T, Cognizant, Elevate Iowa, ITC Midwest, Iowa Biotech Association, Iowa Workforce Development and Rockwell Collins.

"Strong partnerships and collaboration across agencies and organizations, as seen in both the planning and showcasing of this Fast-Track Iowa's Future conference is crucial to achieving our state's goal of 70 percent of Iowa's workforce with some type of post-secondary education or training by 2025," Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg said. "Leveraging our plentiful existent assets in both education and workforce to grow and expand exemplary models is sensible and efficient, and definitively Iowan."

For more information about the event, visit www.IowaSTEM.gov/Fast-Track-Iowas-Future.

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