The Christian County Chamber of Commerce hosted an eye-opener breakfast Thursday morning discussing the state of workforce and how education can play a vital role in that.
Attendees, which included community members, elected officials, education professionals and more, got to hear from two different groups—one focused on workforce and the other on education. Executive Director for the Kentucky Chamber Center Policy and Research Charles Aull says what a lot of people don’t realize is that the workforce is changing in the nation.
While older citizens are retiring and exiting the workforce, there aren’t enough younger people stepping in to fill that gap in the workforce. Aull says the workforce rate was about 57 percent in Kentucky in 2023, and fight is on every day to find away to bring it up.
Cody Noffsinger of the Workforce Development Committee made that announcement that they will now be called Pre-K To Business, or Pre-K to Be, and they’ll be focused solving these workforce issues by supporting education.
Christian County Public Schools Superintendent Chris Bentzel says they’ve already made efforts to work towards a solution, by providing numerous career pathways for students.
Christian County School Board Chair Tom Bell says he’s had students in the fourth-grade talk to him about future careers, so he knows kids are ready to begin these discussions.
Both groups discussed their focus on inspiring youth on how to be career-ready as they leave school, with a Freshman Career Expo set to take place on January 31 at the James E. Bruce Convention Center.