College and business leaders say partnerships are key to growing Fort Worth's skilled workforce

Fort Worth-area college presidents and the head of the city's chamber of commerce said Oct. 6 that working with employers, nonprofits and government agencies is key to keeping students in school and building the region's workforce.

The leaders spoke at a State of Higher Education Forum hosted by The Business Press at The Fort Worth Club.

"Every single opportunity for a young person matters because it may be the one opportunity they need to break that educational and social cycle of poverty," said James Hurley, president of Tarleton State University.

Steve Montgomery, who leads the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce, told the audience hiring and holding on to skilled workers is one of the biggest problems local employers face, and the region cannot count on newcomers to fill those jobs. "That's not a sustainable model," he said. "We really have to grow our talent here."

From a classroom tour to scholarships

Montgomery pointed to Autobahn Fort Worth as an example. After the chamber took local businesses on a 2023 visit to the automotive classes at Fort Worth ISD, the dealership group launched a scholarship effort with Tarrant County College that started with $50,000 for 10 automotive technology students, along with paid internships in its service departments.

Texas Wesleyan University President Emily Messer said her school is working on its own partnership with Autobahn so those TCC students can continue on to a bachelor's in applied arts and sciences. "It is truly the full life cycle for one partnership," Messer said.

Keeping courses current

Montgomery said that when he gathered employers and college faculty about a year earlier to talk about curriculum, one employer asked educators to drop a practice the industry had stopped using four years before, because new hires were spending time unlearning it.

TCC Chancellor Elva LeBlanc said the college relies on business advisory committees to review its courses and suggest changes. Employers want workers with teamwork and empathy as artificial intelligence reshapes their fields, she said, and colleges need to keep talking with them to keep up.

Messer said Texas Wesleyan's program with Everman ISD lets high school students who want to teach pick up 12 hours of education credit. The university is also adding career preparation to every undergraduate degree, beginning with career exploration in the first year and then adding a career readiness class in the second year, job shadowing, and third-year internships. "It will be built into their degree program from day one," she said.

Staying in Tarrant County

Montgomery urged employers to bring students into their workplaces early, noting he has met students who like going to college in the region but plan to work somewhere else.

According to LeBlanc, roughly 85% of TCC graduates stay in the county, but many students work while taking classes, which slows their path to a degree. Scholarships and apprenticeships help, she said, and a TCC partnership with Trinity Metro gives eligible students free transit rides.

Source: Fort Worth Report.

Sources

fortworthreport.org