Mary Ann Myers

This strategic plan outlines Mississippi's comprehensive vision for a world-class workforce, tailored to the state's unique economic portfolio and labor market, to drive increased and sustained individual, community, and statewide prosperity. It focuses on developing a unified workforce system through several key goals: coordinating service delivery for a 'no-wrong-door' approach, strengthening interagency partnerships, and establishing defined K-16+ career pathways. The plan also prioritizes developing cross-program performance metrics, maximizing technology use including AI education, and communicating a unified vision and message to ensure access to quality employment opportunities and a skilled workforce.

This report provides a comprehensive, data-driven return on investment analysis of Mississippi's Career and Technical Education (CTE) ecosystem, encompassing both K-12 and community college programs. It evaluates the long-term economic value generated by public investments in CTE and assesses the system's performance, with a primary focus on enhancing the employability and earning potential of Mississippians. Strategic priorities include strengthening articulated pathways between secondary and postsecondary CTE programs, strategically expanding high-demand program clusters, and improving data alignment across K-12, community college, workforce, and fiscal systems. The overarching vision is to foster individual economic mobility and reinforce the state's long-term fiscal and economic resilience.

This document presents the State Workforce Investment Board's (SWIB) recommendations aimed at aligning Mississippi's workforce development with employer demands. Key priorities include optimizing education funding for career relevance, expanding training capacity in high-demand sectors like healthcare and skilled trades, and enhancing data reporting on program enrollments. The recommendations also focus on defining and promoting high-quality Career and Technical Education (CTE), establishing an AI & Workforce Readiness Council, and creating a unified list of high-value credentials. Further initiatives involve integrating WIOA and Perkins programs, improving data sharing for program effectiveness, refining K-12 diploma tracking and early graduate policies, and ensuring industry-aligned curriculum development. The overarching objective is to strengthen communities, drive business growth, and prepare Mississippians for high-quality careers.

The 2022 Mississippi WIOA Combined Plan focuses on aligning workforce development efforts with the state's economic goals, emphasizing collaboration among agencies and stakeholders. Key priorities include developing a skilled workforce to meet employer needs, improving access to training and employment opportunities for all Mississippians, and leveraging technology to enhance service delivery and data-driven decision-making. The plan aims to create a seamless career pathway model that supports individuals in achieving self-sufficiency and contributes to the state's economic growth.

The 2024 Mississippi Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act (WIOA) Combined State Plan outlines the state's strategy for workforce development. It focuses on aligning workforce and WIOA stakeholders around a unified strategy, addressing worker challenges in gaining credentials and skills, and meeting industry needs. The plan leverages a career pathway model, integrates technology for coordinated assistance, and emphasizes data-driven approaches for strategic planning to enhance workforce participation and economic growth.