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Check out a short video on the Innovation Cabinet's work.
Saint Paul Innovation Cabinet
Start-ups. Tech companies. Innovative businesses. These are
the future of jobs in our economy. Last year I began to research what Saint
Paul and other cities across the country were doing to support and grow these
sorts of businesses.
What I found was that Saint Paul already has a vibrant
tech and innovation sector. Businesses like GovDelivery (now Granicus) and
Primordial Soup are investing in space and staff in the city and creating a
culture of innovation. “Those in the know”
realized that Saint Paul was a growing innovation hotspot, and is the time to
let the rest of the world know.
To do that, Mayor Coleman and I launched the Saint Paul
Innovation Cabinet, a group of 16 experts from the tech, innovation, economic
development, real estate and workforce development sectors to create an action
plan in order to continue the growth we are already seeing. The Cabinet will
announce their plan this summer. If you have ideas for attracting, retaining
and celebrating innovation or tech jobs in Saint Paul, please submit them here.
Interviewing students for Right Track positions.
Right Track 2017
The City’s Right Track program-- providing summer jobs to
Saint Paul’s youth-- continues to grow every year. Right Track has three
different programs; YJ01 which provides entry level positions with parks,
libraries and non-profits, YJ02 which connects students with paid, professional
internships with local businesses, and YJPro which connects youth and young
adults with organizations and internships to build skills for specific careers.
This year YJ01 had over 1700 youth applicants-- about 200
more than last year. In March, we held our annual YJ01 Youth Jobs Expo
with 998 youth attendees and 44 organizations presenting 100 different
worksites. We have around 450 YJ01 jobs this summer—hopefully as the program
continues to grow we can find jobs for a greater number of applicants.
Our YJ02 program continues to
grow as well. We had 861 youth apply
this year, almost double from last year. Of those 861 youth, 783 were
eligible to interview with Right Track staff and volunteers. Because we
only have 180 internship positions available, not all will be offered a position.
If your business in interested in taking on a
Right Track intern you can find more information here.
Workforce Innovation Board
For over a year, I have served as the Saint Paul City Council
representative on the Workforce Innovation Board of Ramsey County (WIB). The
WIB is comprised of business experts, elected officials, and workforce
professionals. Its purpose is to set the public policy for workforce
development issues for today and for the future in Ramsey County. A major WIB function is evaluating current
and emerging workforce issues, and ensuring that we prepare our workforce for
full employment, and ensuring that businesses have access to that well-educated
and skilled workforce.
It’s an exciting time on the WIB, as we work to match the people
of Ramsey County with family-supporting jobs, and ensure we keep those jobs in
Ramsey County by preparing our workforce for the future private,
non-profit, and public employment needs.
Additionally, we have been working with businesses,
non-profit, and public sectors across the region and state to establish a
strong regional/metro workforce board to work on the future workforce issues of the region, because we know employment does not start and stop at municipal
boundaries.
Learn more about WIB here.
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