Job Creation and Workforce Development

On Tuesday, November 9, FOCIS and Crain's Detroit Business presented best-selling author and business thinker Daniel Pink, who delivered an entertaining, yet  thought-provoking  keynote FOCIS address on the new landscape for job creation. Pink was the featured presenter during a half-day conference exploring the critical links among job availability, job retraining and Michigan' labor force.

About Daniel Pink
Daniel Pink is the author of four provocative books about the changing world of work — including the New York Times bestsellers, A Whole New Mind and Drive, which together have been translated into 29 languages.His articles on business and technology appear in many publications, including the New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Wired, where he is a contributing editor. He also writes a monthly business column for the U.K. newspaper, The Sunday Telegraph.  Mr. Pink has provided analyses of business trends on CNN, CNBC, ABC, NPR, and other networks in the U.S. and abroad. And he lectures to corporations, associations, and universities around the world on economic transformation and the new workplace.

Conference topics

• Labor/management relations
• Selling Michigan as a place to do business
• Just in time calibration between workforce development and available jobs
• Non-traditional job creation

Agenda

• 7:30 a.m., Registration/networking breakfast
• 8:30 a.m., Opening keynote, "Candid assessment of Michigan's workforce issues"
• 9 a.m., Panel: "Selling Michigan as a place to do business"
• 10 a.m., Workforce Development - resource calibration panel
• 11 a.m., Private conversation with Daniel Pink
• 11:30 a.m., Lunch
• 12:30 p.m., Keynote FOCIS presentation with Daniel Pink
• 1:30 p.m., Adjourn

Conference presenters

• Sandy Baruah, president, Detroit Regional Chamber
• Tom Bowles, assistant training director, IBEW-NECA Electrical Industrial Training Center
• Robert Ficano, Wayne County Executive
• Mark Gaffney, president, Michigan AFL-CIO
• Andy Levin, acting director, Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Growth
• Marick Masters, director, Douglas A. Fraser Center for Workplace Issues and Labor, Wayne State University
• Sharon Miller, dean, Economic and Workforce Development, Oakland Community College
• Sam Singh, senior strategy consultant, New Economy Initiative
• James Vander Hulst, president, West Michigan TEAM