YC Creates New Workforce, Innovation Division to Connect Local Businesses to Education

One of Yavapai College’s priorities, which is given to the college president from the District Governing Board, states that: “Communities in Yavapai County are supported in their efforts to lead economic development, with emphasis on generating and sustaining economic base jobs.”

The college has previously met this priority through the work of its Regional Economic Development Center and Small Business Development Center. These two departments within the College have served as leaders in economic development throughout the region, having helped countless businesses in Yavapai County with customized training, career and job services, economic research and grants.

The college understands that to thrive in the future, Yavapai County and its current and future employers need even more support. To provide this support, we need to invest in resources and people, and the college has done so by creating a new Division of Workforce and Innovation.

This new division will help Yavapai College remain a leader in preparing our students for today’s workforce needs as well as tomorrow’s innovation. We have identified and hired a new leader for the Division, Dr. Kimberly Moore, who I am beyond excited about joining YC as chief workforce and innovation officer.

Dr. Moore will join YC from Tallahassee Community College, where she served as the vice president for workforce innovation.

Her experience connecting business and industry to education is exactly what both the college and our business community need. In my conversations with her, Dr. Moore has expressed her commitment to ensuring that employers throughout Yavapai County and the state of Arizona have a talent pipeline that is prepared to meet their current and future workforce needs.

Yavapai College will continue to play a major role in supporting the attraction of new businesses to the area as well as providing support to current businesses by enhancing short-term credentials, reskilling of the current workforce, experiential learning and on-demand training.

This new division will evolve to include more than the Regional Economic Development Center and the Small Business Development Center. Its creation demonstrates the college’s unwavering commitment to becoming a national leader in workforce and innovation. We aim to work strategically with existing industries to provide a skilled and qualified workforce that ultimately leads to a sustainable and vibrant economy. QCBN

By Lisa Rhine

Lisa B. Rhine, Ph.D., is the president of Yavapai College.