One East Kentucky, EKCEP, Kentucky Power, SOAR, and the Ashland Alliance have partnered to complete a workforce assessment and skills analysis for a 27-county region in East Kentucky. This is an update of the EKYWorks project that was conducted in 2016, and Boyette Strategic Advisors has been engaged to conduct the study. The earlier project uncovered compatible occupations that coal miners could transfer to, education and training programs to be created, and potential industries that would best fit Eastern Kentucky.
As a result of having data and information to market the readily available workforce, Eastern Kentucky has seen a number of new companies locate in the region. It is important to update that project to ensure that we have
current data and to explore the transformation of our regional workforce over the last four years. Additionally, as our economy bounces back from the COVID pandemic, this study will give us very current information about
opportunities to get our workforce employed and meet the needs of our existing businesses.
While the analysis will collect data from several sources, an important perspective will be that of high school students, who represent a significant portion of our future talent pipeline. In order to collect this data as efficiently and conveniently as possible, Boyette has designed an online survey for high school students throughout the 27-county region. The survey focuses on how students explore potential careers and what their current plans are following high school. It is very brief and optimized for mobile users, so students can access and complete the survey from their phones or computers. Students may receive survey links from Superintendents, Principals, and/or Guidance Counselors.
In addition, Boyette has prepared a survey for High School Counselors to learn more about their role in career counseling and their experiences with students as they explore career options. Like the student survey, it is brief
and optimized for mobile users. The Counselor survey is also available via your Superintendent, KVEC, or One East Kentucky. Please be assured that all information collected through both surveys will be confidential and no
individual survey responses will be shared.
Please share these surveys with the appropriate audiences. We hope to have all survey responses by September 4th, 2020, however, with staggered start dates for school districts, we will extend the date through the end of
September if need be to accommodate communications. We appreciate you taking the time to participate in this important project. To learn more about the EKYWorks 2.0 project, go to www.ekyworks.org.
