Dear Business Professional,

On behalf of the BN Advantage, I am reaching out to you today to enlist your participation in an important McLean County Employer Survey focused on Workforce Development.


The BN Advantage is a collaborative regional economic development initiative that unites the vision of business, government and community to diversify and strengthen the Bloomington-Normal Metro Region's economy.  The purpose is to help elevate and advance the community's economic competitiveness and growth.  The BN Advantage was officially unveiled to the community in August of 2015.

In the Fall of 2015, several taskforces began to mobilize and start work on tactics outlined in the BN Advantage plan.   The Workforce Development and Talent Retention Taskforce was created to address a key focus area of the BN Advantage - to champion the region's educational and training institutions, resources and programs that will enable Bloomington-Normal's existing and future employers to cultivate, retain and attract the talent they need.   An important first step for the Workforce Taskforce is the creation and launch of an Employer Needs Survey.  Information gleaned from the survey will be used by the Workforce Development Task Force of the BN Advantage to create strategies to attract and retain  top workforce talent. Outcomes of the survey include:
  1. Baseline data on current and projected workforce needs
  2. Assessment data on Essential Employability Skills (Soft Skills)
  3. Identification of Skill Gaps
  4. Development of secondary and post-secondary curriculum to address gaps
While the survey requires time and effort, the data captured will be of great value to area employers and survey results will be shared with all who participate. 

It is recommended that the Human Resource professional, or individual with most knowledge of your talent needs within your organization respond to the survey.  The individual completing the survey may need to collaborate with other members of your team to portray the most accurate picture of the needs for your organization.  A copy of the survey is can be downloaded here as a PDF file. Please print and circulate the survey to gather requested information.  For your convenience, you are able to start the survey and come back at a later time to finish.

 

The survey will close January 31, 2017.  If you have questions about the survey, contact Tony Coletta at [email protected] , from Advocate BroMenn Medical Center, who chairs the BN Advantage Workforce Development - Employer Engagement Task force.  For technical questions about the survey, contact Dr. Jim Jawahar at [email protected] .  Thank you in advance for your willingness to participate, your input is crucial in helping the Taskforce fully understand the workforce needs of our community.

STAY CONNECTED