Southwire is a privately held wire and cable manufacturer headquartered in Georgia whose commitment to improving the communities in which it operates has put it on the leading edge of education initiatives for decades. With high school dropout rates approaching 30 percent around Southwire’s western Georgia facilities, the company partnered with Carroll County Schools to examine how they could help. In 2007, they launched 12 for Life – a program that lets students combine their studies with practical real-world experience at a customized Southwire manufacturing facility.
Publications & Toolkits
Workforce Readiness
Expeditors
Expeditors, a Fortune 500 company, delivers global logistics management solutions for all aspects of supply chain management to customers such as Walmart, General Electric, Cisco Systems, and Target. In 2010, Expeditors employed 12,869 employees globally in 251 offices and had more than $5.96 billion in annual revenue. Celebrating a culture of organic growth and a history of promoting from within, Expeditors faced the recent economic downturn by implementing a “no layoffs” policy, choosing to cut costs through a hiring freeze and attrition.
CVS Caremark and Worksource Partners, Inc.
CVS Caremark is the largest pharmacy health care provider in the United States, with approximately 7,512 retail stores and 569 MinuteClinic locations employing 200,000 people in 41 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Like many retailers, CVS Caremark faces critical shortages of supervisory and management staff to address the projected growth in demand. Within its current workforce, many entry-level employees lack key basic academic and workforce skills, making it difficult for them to advance to management positions and build rewarding careers.
CVS Caremark
As one of the country’s largest pharmacy benefits managers, CVS Caremark provides access to a network of more than 64,000 pharmacies, including over 7,000 CVS/Pharmacy retail stores. Ranked 19th on the Fortune 500 for 2009 and reporting annual revenues of over $87 billion, CVS Caremark employs more than 200,000 people in 43 states. To support the exponential growth accomplished by CVS Caremark in the past ten years, the company needed a large source of entry-level talent and a way of developing that talent into high growth/high need positions.
AOL and Year Up™
Despite more than 25 years in business, AOL, like so many corporations in the current economic climate, has experienced a period of contraction. However, it remains a leading global web services company, including a network of premium and niche content sites, and an extensive offering of world-class tools and platforms. With the imperative to provide innovative products and valuable services to multiple customer lines, AOL looks for skilled talent to join their workforce of over 5,000—particularly among technically savvy youth.
Business Leaders, Corporate Voices and Year Up Meet with Policymakers to Discuss Effective Investment in Workforce Development
April 14, 2011 / Washington — Business leaders from renowned American corporations will join Year Up leaders and alumni, Corporate Voices for Working Families and representatives from other enterprising pathway programs for meetings with 35 key policymakers on Capitol Hill today. The event’s agenda will highlight the most effective, scalable workforce development programs for driving economic growth, ultimately closing the gap between untapped talent and entry level workforce needs.
Corporate Voices Releases Suite of New Tools to Support Community and Business Partnerships for Young People
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 8, 2011) – Corporate Voices for Working Families, a nonprofit business membership organization in Washington, DC, has released a valuable new resource to help community leaders and employers collaborate to support children, youth and families in their communities.
Corporate Voices Releases New Report, “Across the Great Divide”
Corporate Voices for Working Families and Civic Enterprises, in association with the Institute for a Competitive Workforce, U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Peter D. Hart Research Associates, have released “Across the Great Divide,” which examines the perspectives of CEOs and College Presidents on America’s higher education and skills gap.
National Survey Reveals Great Divide Between Skills Workers Have and Skills Employers Require
Washington, D.C. (March 29, 2011) – In the midst of the most severe economic downturn since the Great Depression, and with millions of Americans unemployed or underemployed, a majority of employers are facing a major challenge recruiting employees with the skills, training and education their companies require.
KPMG: Talent Pipeline Developed with Diverse and Prepared Employees
By working closely with Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other educational institutions, KPMG hires more diverse, high-potential, talented and prepared workers by providing internships, scholarships, professional development and mentorship opportunities.