Events

As demand surges across data centers, biotechnology, and advanced manufacturing, meeting the need for highly skilled talent requires more than expanding existing programs, it requires a strategic reorientation of workforce systems. In this dynamic panel, moderated by the National Coalition of Certification Centers (NC3), global industry leaders from Festo, The L.S. Starrett Company, Greenlee, RIDGID, and Trane Technologies will explore how workforce practitioners and educators must act now to modernize professional development training, strengthen the talent pipeline, and prepare a future-ready trades workforce for the next decade of innovation.

Panelists will explore three essential shifts driving scalable impact:

1. Aligning curriculum to employer demand at scale through competency-based, modular, industry-validated credentials
2. Embedding industry in training delivery and assessment to accelerate skill acquisition and validate performance
3. Building flexible, sustainable talent pathways that integrate education, earn-and-learn models, and employer investment

Attendees will leave with a clear call to action: rethink traditional workforce roles, adopt partnership-first models, and align systems around measurable, employer-validated outcomes to power the skills-based economy.