Goal 2: Develop Greater Waco's Workforce


Greater Waco’s capacity to provide employers with quality talent and ability to prepare its population for future careers is the pinnacle of community development.
Companies will not be able to expand, nor will they be interested in Greater Waco, if they do not feel they can find the workers they need. To provide the skilled workers that companies are looking for, the region will have to optimize its Pre-K to 16 pipeline to the labor force, particularly as it relates to priority target business sectors.

This goal focuses on the workforce development needs of Greater Waco, from the public school systems to two- and four-year degree programs and beyond.

Access to talent is among the most critical location requirements of any business.
Developing a quality workforce has been, and should continue to be, a strategic priority.

Objective 1: Improve public school performance;

Objective 2: Align higher education offerings with the needs of current and projected
businesses and global economic trends; and

Objective 3: Empower underserved and emerging workers.

Waco Independent School District works closely with Texas State Technical College Waco and L-3 Communications Integrated Systems for its Aviation Career Education program.

ACE is geared toward helping students get an edge before they take off into the post-graduation "real world."
.
Qualified students take related courses their freshman and sophomore years of high school and then apply for a half-day course program at TSTC during their junior and senior years. The students can apply for the ACE program when they graduate from high school.

When these students graduate from high school, they will have four introductory-level courses at TSTC under their belt. They take three more semesters successfully at TSTC, and L-3, a leader in the modernization and maintenance of military and commercial aircraft, steps in and reimburses them for their out-of-pocket expenses and pays up front for their next two semesters.

Upon graduation, students who choose the maintenance path will receive their aviation maintenance certification from TSTC and can test for their airframe and power plant license through the Federal Aviation Administration.

The graduates are required to work for L-3 for two years, if positions are available, in return for the company's investment in their education.

While L-3 and TSTC have partnered for years to provide training to L-3 Waco employees, the ACE program is a way to grow a workforce at the grassroots level.

Waco ISD also works closely with McLennan Community College and Texas State Technical College programs in the middle and high schools complement those in place at the higher level.

Waco ISD fifth grade students can participate in job shadowing through the Adopt-A-School program. Many Waco Chamber businesses participate in this effort.

Students submit applications, interview for jobs and are partnered with a professional in the community at a participating business.

Waco High also offers an automotive program and graphics arts and design program. Waco High, University High and A.J. Moore offer construction science.

All three schools also offer a multimedia business program. Students at University High have choices in health careers and the "Ready, Set, Teach" program, which is offered to students in the top 10 percent of their graduating class. If they return to Waco ISD after college to teach, they are guaranteed a position in the high-needs areas of science and math.

The community passed a $74.4 million bond for McLennan Community College to build more classroom space. The school's enrollment has experienced an average six percent growth rate annually since it began in 1967.

Two-thirds of the nurses and more than 85 percent of the radiological technologists and physical therapists employed at Providence Healthcare Network and Hillcrest Health System were trained at MCC.
 
Texas State Technical College Waco offers extensive training in aviation, health and dental care, mechanics, audio visual and the gamut of technical career paths.

TSTC's Corporate College will asses the training needs of industry clients, develop training plans, define job descriptions and provide training taught by industry-experienced faculty.

Baylor University offers 74 master's degree programs, 22 doctoral degree programs, four new professional development programs, a juris doctorate program and master of divinity and doctor of ministry program.

Baylor students work in the business community as interns and part-time employees. Many Baylor students choose to make Waco their home upon graduation.