workforce development Plan

Strategy and Focus

Parkland College’s workforce development efforts include programs, projects, and partnerships that help students prepare for jobs and support the local economy in District 505. This Workforce Development Plan was created by different departments across the college with hopes to build a stronger workforce in several industries, with a special focus on manufacturing and healthcare.

This plan supports Parkland’s larger goals for student success and community growth. It works closely with our Strategic Enrollment Management Plan (PDF) to:

  • Help more people get access to college and job training
  • Build strong career paths that lead to better jobs
  • Focus on fast-growing industries, like manufacturing and healthcare

Strategic Plan Alignment

“Sustain Parkland College's role as a regional leader in economic and workforce development, forging partnerships with industry and government that spur job creation, expand the workforce pipeline, upskill incumbent workers, accelerate innovation, and foster a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem within District 505.”  – Parkland College's Strategic Enrollment Management Plan (C.1) 

Industry Partnerships
  • Objective: Strengthen collaboration with regional healthcare and manufacturing partners, workforce boards, and government agencies to ensure workforce programs align with local economic needs.
  • Action Steps:
    • Partner with local employers, chambers of commerce, and economic development organizations to identify opportunities for collaboration.
    • Establish at least (five) new MOUs annually with local manufacturing and health care employers and government agencies to support job placement and apprenticeships.
    • Partner with granting programs to access funding and expand program capacity.
    • Partner with Local Workforce Area 17 to provide industry specific training.
Workforce Pipeline Expansion
  • Objective: Enhance accessibility to workforce programs for underrepresented populations and ensure adult learners and English language learners (ELLs) have seamless pathways to workforce training and higher education.
  • Action Steps:
    • Develop targeted outreach/recruitment campaigns to underserved communities for workforce programs.
    • Develop robust partnerships with community-based organizations to reach historically underrepresented and marginalized communities.
    • Continue and enhance supportive scholarship programs and other supports for underrepresented and first-generation college students including SWFT, SWFT + Healthcare, Highway Construction Careers Training Program, CEJA, Perkins, and other programs.
    • Expand pre-college preparatory program offerings in manufacturing and health care for Adult Education and ESL students including: IET, Bridge Program, and/or Bootcamps.
    • Continue to pursue and secure external funding that expands access to training and education for individuals who are not otherwise engaging with the college.
    • Support accelerated training programs and micro-credentials through IET and SWFT funded programs
    • Review and revise contextualized learning programs to integrate ESL and Adult Education with industry-specific certifications.
    • Provide technology and digital literacy training to support student engagement and success.
Upskilling and Reskilling Initiatives
  • Objective: Provide opportunities for current workers to update their skills or transition into new career paths to meet regional workforce needs in manufacturing and healthcare.
  • Action Steps:
    • Promote flexible learning formats to accommodate working professionals for incumbent worker training and apprenticeships, including Competency-Based Education (CBE), online, and short-term training options.
    • Partner with local employers to develop and fund customized upskilling programs, including apprenticeships, for entry level and mid-level employees.
    • Create campaign to promote upskilling services to regional businesses, including competency-based education, work-based learning, contract training, and other strategies.
Accelerating Innovation
  • Objective: Maintain a future-focused strategy that includes engagement in emerging sectors of manufacturing and healthcare, while also exploring innovative approaches to alleviate workforce shortages in well-established industries.
  • Action Steps:
    • Collaborate with industry and local partners to identify opportunities for Parkland to provide training in emerging industries, such as:
      • Bioprocessing/Precision Fermentation (iFAB Tech Hub)
      • Quantum Technologies (Chicago Quantum Exchange)
      • Semiconductor Technologies
    • Continue to develop and support strategies, such as apprenticeships, that address critical industry workforce shortages in areas such as aviation and healthcare.
    • Proactively seek grant funds from state, federal, corporate, or private sources that can fund personnel, equipment, facilities, or proof-of-concept programs that can be brought to scale to serve the college’s programs long-term.