Need to Know
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Yesterday Gov. Cooper announced the NCWorks Local Innovation Fund. Here’s the link to guidelines and application materials. Grants are available of up to $100,000 for capacity building or up to $400,000 to implement a workforce idea ready for implementation.
The Next Evolution
Quartz has a great series out this week on the future of work. The series begins by saying, “If automation continues at its current pace, 400 million workers around the globe will be displaced by 2030.” They then present articles from four leading thinkers on this issue, bringing up diverse and interesting perspectives.
Kai-Fu Lee, founder of Sinovation Ventures and former president of Google China, writes a piece titled, “Automation will force us to realize that we are not defined by what we do.” Farai Chideya, author of “The Episodic Career,” writes “The US can survive automation if it reimagines meritocracy.” John C. Havens, author of “Heartificial Intelligence, writes, “Automation may take our jobs, but personal data will save our paychecks.” And finally, James Manyika, Chairman of the McKinsey Global Institute writes, “Companies should help you retrain when you’re automated out of a job.”
Food for Thought
Brookings Institute has a new report out titled, “Where does the American middle class live?” As the title suggests, the report looks at the presence of the middle class in 382 metropolitan areas in the United States. The authors found that the middle class is largest in small and mid-size metro areas, and that the area with the largest middle class percentage is Jacksonville, North Carolina with a middle class making up 73.7 percent of households. The share of the population in the middle class in the larger metro areas of Raleigh, Charlotte, and Greensboro can be seen in the graphic below.
What we're reading
How to Turn a Community College Into an Economic Engine
Partnerships between schools and employers can better train students for available jobs. Just take a look at Forsyth Tech.... Read the rest-
The Trouble with Farm Subsidies
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Vaping Use Climbs for N.C. Teenagers
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They Were Still Recovering from Hurricane Florence. Then Michael Came.
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Use of 529 Plans Rising—Along With Revenue Impact
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These high school students are tackling Kentucky's mental health crisis
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How free Lyft rides can dramatically improve life for senior citizens
