ACTE's Industry Connect Blog

2016 Industry Connect Blog Highlights

As 2016 draws to a close, we want to take the time to highlight all of the excellent blogs that our partners have created since we debuted this page several months ago. We have thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with our contacts to develop content that discusses the in-depth, excellent partnerships between industry and education that are currently strengthening career and technical education nationwide.

Did you know…?

Workers in the woodworking and furnishings supply industry are rapidly retiring from jobs as machine operators, technicians, engineers, and sales professionals, and businesses are looking to internship programs to train students to the fill the gap?
Blog: “The Association of Woodworking & Furnishing Suppliers (AWFS) Discusses Efforts to Address the Skills Gap”

63 percent of sign manufacturers say attracting skilled workers is the number one issue impacting their business, and the International Sign Association (ISA) has partnered with NOCTI to create digital badges that show employers which employees have the skills they are looking for?
“Sign, Graphics and Visual Communication Industries Offer Great Careers”

The hospitality field could add up to 3.3 million jobs by 2021, and more than 50 percent of all hotel general managers and c-suite executives began their careers in hourly, entry-level positions?
“AHLEI Reports on the Hospitality Industry”

The Department of Defense has redesigned the ASVAB Career Exploration Program, which has helped millions of students explore careers and provided them with information about the specific education, skills, and training they need to achieve their goals?
“DoD launches redesigned ASVAB Career Exploration Program”

The U.S. Army offers over 200 specialized careers, which give recruits opportunities not only to defend the nation against cyberattacks, provide medical care, and repair vital technology, but also to gain skills that will be useful if they enter civilian careers?
“High-Demand CTE careers in the U.S. Army”

Master Builders of Iowa has launched a career information website and construction week to make parents and educators aware of career opportunities in construction, and hopes to strengthen its relationship with the education community to further increase awareness?
“Are Your Students Prepared?”

Technological advances are creating a more efficient, flexible, and lucrative manufacturing system, but students are frequently not learning the interdisciplinary competencies that would help them succeed in this new environment?
“Advanced Manufacturing is not a Second-Rate Career”

The Council of Chief State School Officers, Advance CTE, and JP Morgan have partnered to distribute over $20 million in grants to help states implement their career readiness plans?
“Career Readiness: A National Agenda”

The Oceans of Data Institute has created a free Profile of the Data Practitioner to inform schools of the specific skills, behaviors, and areas of expertise in which data analysts need to be proficient?
“What does the Data/Big Data Practitioner need to know and be able to do?”

Whether you’ve been a loyal reader for the last several months, visited this page to read a specific blog from a company or organization with which you have a connection, or simply found this page through your search for knowledge about CTE, we appreciate the time you have given us and your interest in education-industry partnerships and the ways in which they can help build an educational system that prepares students for the careers of today and the future. We hope you will keep reading our weekly entries in 2017!

AHLEI Reports on the Hospitality Industry

By Elizabeth Johnson from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI). This blog is in response to the prompt, "What would you like the CTE community to know about your industry?"

For career and technical education students, hospitality presents a world of possibilities in a field that offers diversity, mobility, and the chance to use a broad range of skills,  including accounting, marketing, problem solving, creativity, and people skills. Hospitality encompasses hotels, resorts, cruise ships, inns, and other places that provide accommodations for travelers. Jobs in the industry go far beyond the positions a traveler encounters face-to-face. In addition to front desk agents, housekeepers, and bell staff, a hotel needs people to sell and market the hotel, order and purchase supplies, hire and train employees, and manage finances, as well as managers who coordinate the activities of every employee and department to create memorable experiences for guests.

The hospitality industry in the United States has been identified as one of six priority sectors likely to drive domestic employment growth over the next 10 years. The industry directly employs nearly 8 million individuals and hotel projects in the sector could add between 2.1 million and 3.3 million jobs by 2021.

Hospitality is a field that rewards knowledge, skills, and initiative. Promotions can happen quickly, and more than 50 percent of all hotel general managers and c-suite executives began their careers in hourly, entry-level positions. The industry is filled with stories of dishwashers and bellhops who started at 17 and worked their way up to general manager by the time they were 30.  The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA), the sole national association representing the U.S. lodging industry, recently launched its “Dreams Happen Here” campaign to showcase hospitality’s many career success stories.

Evelyn Richardson, assistant director of finance and accounting at the 1,500-room Gaylord Texan Resort, is one of those success stories. Just 25 years old, Richardson didn’t even know what hospitality was when her mother enrolled her in Washington, D.C’s Hospitality High School. The school combined math, science and English classes with hospitality-focused CTE classes that opened Richardson’s eyes to a whole new world.

Majoring in hospitality management at Tuskegee University in Alabama, Richardson added a second major in finance and became one of the first members of her family to earn a degree. After graduating in 2014, she was accepted into the Marriott Voyager Global Leadership Development Program, where she worked as a management trainee in the housekeeping, front office, and finance departments at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis. When the assistant director of finance position at the Gaylord Texan opened up, Richardson was well prepared for the opportunity.

“I could never have imagined doing this when I was in high school,” said Richardson. “I’ve gotten to travel and work in exciting places and experience things I never dreamed of. The hospitality industry is amazing.”

The American Hotel & Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) is the education and training arm of the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA).  For more information on AHLEI’s high school curriculum, the Hospitality and Tourism Management Program (HTMP), and other educational resources, visit www.ahlei.org, or call +1.407.999.8100.