Fri, March 29, 2024

Mondays with Rick: Investing in education to build the future workforce

Gary Kauffman

 

Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of the Hull College of Business, discusses a different, timely business topic each Monday in this column. This week, he talks about the importance of education and literacy in developing a strong workforce. The interview has been edited for clarity and impact.

Dr. Rick Franza, Dean of AU’s Hull College of Business
ABD: Recent reports indicate that more than a third of Georgia third graders struggle to read at grade level and overall education is below pre-pandemic levels. What effect could that have on the local workforce?

Rick: These children will become adults and enter the workforce. I spent some time participating in strategic planning for the Augusta Economic Development Authority and one thing President Cal Wray said is that attracting companies is becoming less and less about tax breaks and the cost of land – they’re still important, but a lot is coming down to the available workforce.

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One thing that has helped Georgia is its investment in higher education with the HOPE scholarships and legislative funding. However, I do worry about K-12.

ABD: What is worrisome about K-12?

Rick: K-12 is challenging for several reasons. We have urban school issues and we have rural school issues. There are a lot of good pockets of education in the state, like the metro Atlanta area and Columbia County.

But we’ve been one of those places that have had a good inflow of attracting people to the state and the area. More investment in K-12 education is necessary or we’ll start losing those battles of attraction.

Most businesses have employee handbooks and other written training materials, making literacy a necessity for a job.
ABD: In K-12 we’re talking about basic education. Why is this basic education important for a thriving workforce?

Rick: No matter what the job is, you’ve got to have basic competency in reading and math skills. When you look at manufacturing now compared to 20-30 years ago, you don’t need as many people to run the machines, but the people who run them have to do it well.

The same is true in the service industry. In order to provide good service, you often have to go look up the answer. You can only get by so much on personal interaction skills.

Most jobs, from simple to sophisticated, require some training, and a lot of times that training is done with slides or outside reading. If someone can’t read well, is the training really going to be effective?

ABD: What role can and should businesses play in local K-12 education?

Rick: If you’re in a community, your job is not just to hire the people who are there but it’s also in helping the community move forward. The onus beyond what the school system can do is on businesses. Typically, that’s through clubs – in the Rotary Club, we have a Literacy Committee that does many things to promote literacy. There are some bureaucratic challenges but schools are always looking for help, especially in Richmond County. You can reach out to the school and ask what you can do as a business.

Locally, the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce is very invested in the schools, and Textron has their Reaching Potential through Manufacturing (RPM) program to help kids finish school – they have a high school in the factory with a principal and faculty!

Partnering with K-12 is building your workforce for the future. You won’t have to recruit so hard outside the area. The ROI is sometimes longer, but it’s an important investment to make. It really improves the tax base because the more people you can lift, the better it is for everybody. And if a company invests in the community, people will think better of them and will be more likely to go work for them.

ABD: Does this mean some businesses have to change how they think about the education system?

Rick: The bottom line is that business people need to understand that if they want a good workforce, they need to invest in it. Don’t rely on an individual, don’t rely on the government, there’s a lot you can do.

We tend to think about education for ourselves and our children, but we really need to think about how it makes our society and where we live better.

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