On October 5 2023, I was honored to be able to present on NOCO Works to the National Council on Workforce Education (NCWE) at the 2023 yearly summit. Our regional model was met with interest and several folks who attended the session I led were able to share their experiences with regional workforce and economic development collaborations with which they have been involved. An interesting theme emerged regarding the discomfort and challenges that arise when we bring greater structure and organization to the work. There was a general sense that collaborations, such as ours, need to move in this direction of alignment for shared progress. However, the attendees did not have successful experiences to share in making the leap from being a loose collection of like minded individuals and entities to an organized coalition that will bring its shared energy to bear on key shared themes, with structure, resources, and shared goals. I am grateful to have been able to attend the NCWE meeting and bring these other experiences back to our fold. I am encouraged by the strong planning work that NOCO Works is doing - having a fiscal entity to work with (Community Foundation of Northern Colorado), support from Larimer and Weld County Leadership, regional Chambers of Commerce, seed funds from the Weld Trust, intense engagement of so many partners and so much more. I firmly believe NOCO Works is making essential progress in developing the required reporting structures, shared goals, shared data, as well as organizational principles and practices. NOCO Works will soon have tangible successes to report, and examples to share in other forums such as NCWE.
Dr. Nicholas Spezza
Co-Chair, NOCO Works
@NoCo Works
@NationalCouncilonWorkforceEducatoin
@CommunityFoundation
@LarimerCountyEconomicandworkforcedevelopment
@WeldCounty
@TheWeldTrust