Convergence

The WIRED staff laid out the four main goals of their 37-county WIRED program to community leaders at Meridian Community College.  This is a good sign, as I was starting to wonder where this high visibility program was headed while other WIRED programs were already distributing grant monies.

• Goal No. 1: Create a regional identity. This means getting all the leaders in the region to focus on a “build it” attitude, rather than a “fix it” attitude. The WIRED team wants people to think regionally, not locally.

• Goal No. 2: Build entrepreneurship and support this by creating people, places and programs that are friendly toward innovation. Celebrate the successes of entrepreneurs.

• Goal No. 3: Create a regionalized worker certification program. What that means: Students who receive training at any of the eight community colleges in the 37-county region have the skills to do a job, but they have something else as well — a certification recognized throughout the region.

And tracking these workers means an incoming business owner can make a call and know how many workers fit their requirements.

• Goal No. 4: Finally, the WIRED team wants to bring the program into the K-12 educational system — provide schools with programs that encourage entrepreneurship, innovation and skills needed for the future.