Pub. 8 2018 Issue 2

17 MINING FOCUS OING TO USE THIS?” D YOUR COMPANY TODAY performing engineering calculations in a manufacturing class; students apply core science concepts in a welding class; and students can confidently answer the question “why did I learn that in English?” when they write a performance report in their Engineering Principles class. The better we help students see how the skills they learn in a CTE class can lead to an exciting career, the more motivated they are to learn and the more likely they are to connect with businesses that really need people with these skills to help their organizations grow. The one issue we still need to address to make our booming state economy even stronger is the challenge businesses face finding qualified, skilled workers. Because Utah’s economy is outperforming the rest of the country, nearly anyone who wants a job can find a job. This puts tremendous pressure on businesses, as they cannot find the skilled employees they need to fill jobs that are open now and that could be created if the workforce was readily available. In a recent survey of industry leaders conducted by Chase, over 40 percent of businesses said that the limited supply of talent (human resources) is their “most significant challenge.” Yet, every year, there are tens of thousands of Utah students, and hundreds of thousands of students around the country who choose to take CTE classes in areas related to your business, and who would love to know that you want them to work in your business. We want to help students understand the opportunities that are there for them and help them start down a path to prosperity at the moment they realize they have the interest or the aptitude to do the things these careers require.