Two cities, St. Petersburg and Tampa, strive to establish their own industry clusters.
By Robert Trigaux, Times Business Columnist. In Print: Sunday, January 30, 2011. St. Petersburg finds its economic development strategy assisted by a most odd and uninvited advocate: BP, courtesy of last year's destructive gulf oil spill. Before that disaster, the city's marine science industry cluster was growing nicely, if quietly. With BP's global notoriety and the local receipt of some serious BP fix-it funds from the spill, the marine science and ocean technology hub operating around the University of South Florida's marine sciences college in St. Petersburg has landed in the spotlight as one of the more unique and promising clusters in all of Florida. Learn more…
Forget Green Jobs.
January 25, 2011. By David Schejbal. We have spent a lot of time debating the number of green jobs likely to be created in the future. What will they be? By when? How many? Where? How can I get one? How will I know a green job when I see it? And for educators, we ask how we can prepare students for these jobs. The problem is, we're debating the wrong issue. There are no green jobs. WHAT? Learn more…
The Newest College Credential.
By Motoko Rich, New York Times. Published: January 7, 2011. EDUCATION, students are frequently told, is the key to a better job. First, finish high school. Then, go to college and get a degree. For those with higher aspirations, try for a master’s. But increasingly, there is another way. Short vocational programs leading to a certificate are becoming the kudzu of the educational world. There’s a program for virtually any skill, from interior design to paralegal to managing records at a doctor’s office. Instead of investing in a master’s, professionals itching to move up the career ladder can earn certificates in marketing strategies, credit analysis or even journalism. Learn more…
Training Youths in the Ways of the Workplace.
By DAVID BORNSTEIN, The New York Times. January 24, 2011, 9:15 PM. The most frustrating economic news of 2010 wasn’t that the recession had worsened — it was that things had improved markedly for corporations, but not for the labor force. Even Alan Greenspan expressed concern that the U.S. is evincing “fundamentally two separate types of economy” — one in which big companies and high earners thrive, the other in which millions struggle to find jobs and make ends meet. One group that has been particularly hard hit by the recession is youth. Among workers aged 16 to 24, the unemployment rate is almost 20 percent. For young Latinos, it’s over 24 percent, and for young African Americans, it’s over 32 percent. Some 4.4 million youths are currently unemployed. Learn more…
