How the U.S. Chamber Foundation Is Helping Communities Build Strong Talent Pipelines

Seventy-four percent of hiring managers say a skills gap persists across industries. To solve the problem, Talent Pipeline Management® (TPM), the signature workforce initiative of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, is providing employers with a data- and performance-driven approach to identify and develop talent.

TPM provides a framework for employers to build external pipelines — preparing talent that has yet to walk through the door — as well as internal strategies for backfilling, upskilling, and reskilling existing talent.

With people trained in the TPM framework from 44 U.S. states, D.C., and Canada, implementing a talent supply chain approach is quickly spreading. Here are just a few examples of how Arizona, Kentucky, and Vermont have strengthened their talent pipelines. Read more case studies here.

Training Assisted Living Nurses in Arizona

Local First Arizona

A recent study found annual turnover rates for nursing home nurses are over 94%. To address this problem locally, Creative Care Assisted Living in Mohave County, Arizona, began a training program to try to build a better talent pipeline at their facility. However, these training services were limited due to significant cost barriers.

Using the TPM framework, Local First Arizona, a nonprofit organization focused on community and economic development, connected Creative Care to the local workforce board to determine if they could be on the Eligible Trainer Provider List (ETPL). Within a month, the workforce board approved Creative Care.

Creative Care now gets paid for every trainee that completes their certified nursing assistant (CNA) course. This includes Creative Care’s new hires and anyone in the community who is interested in attaining their CNA license, creating a talent pipeline for assisted living facilities, in-home care companies, and hospitals across Mohave County.

Building Kentucky’s Talent Pipeline Across Industries

Kentucky Chamber Workforce Center

In Kentucky, 81% of businesses expect moderate to high growth over the next three to five years. Yet, 84% currently struggle to find qualified hires.

To help bridge this gap and empower employers to lead workforce development, the Kentucky Chamber Workforce Center launched “Building Kentucky’s Talent Pipeline” in 2018 using TPM. Within two years, employer collaboratives representing hundreds of employers were established for the state’s most in-demand industries.

These employer collaboratives are well into implementation, building pipelines and seeing results including:

• Collaborating with a community college to create a deck hand training program preparing job seekers for lucrative, high-demand careers in the maritime industry.
• Creating a new industry credential in the equine sector and hosting training workshops to recruit and train talent for critical jobs, including second-chance hires.
• Partnering with postsecondary health care leaders to modernize the clinical rotation model for a stronger pipeline of registered nurses.
• Connecting students with entry-level health care jobs that provide professional experience and financial support to increase a student’s prospects of graduating as a registered nurse.

TPM has helped to connect over 4,000 Kentuckians to jobs and training opportunities. Although not every community has the capacity to launch multiple employer collaboratives at a statewide level, the Kentucky Chamber Workforce Center’s comprehensive approach to workforce development is producing tangible results that are positively impacting individuals, businesses, and communities.

Creating a Talent Supply Chain in Vermont’s Construction Industry

Vermont Business Roundtable

Vermont faces a workforce gap of 11,000 workers, with its workforce decreasing annually by about 1,000 to 1,500 workers per year. Using TPM, the Vermont Business Roundtable started to implement a talent supply chain approach in the construction industry.

The initiative grew quickly, with 185 employers in Vermont now actively engaged across multiple industries. The employers predict the addition of more than 6,600 new jobs across 19 critical job categories by the end of 2023.

To demonstrate the kind of training needed to fill in-demand jobs and progress in an industry, employers created career ladder diagrams for each of the three industry sectors (i.e., construction, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing) to show critical roles, levels of education required, and salaries for skilled trade.

Partnerships between employers and educators have been the key to success. The Vermont TPM team introduced all state secondary, postsecondary, and higher education institutions to the concept of developing pipelines of talent directly from the classroom to available Vermont careers.

Strengthening Nursing Programs at Community Colleges

Hospital Workforce Collaborative

Arizona is expected to experience a 23% growth in demand for specialized nursing, with 20,508 new openings projected by 2025. To keep up with this demand, hospitals must hire expensive traveling nurses and pay extensive overtime in what is a very costly support model.

To address these critical shortages, the Greater Phoenix Chamber Foundation organized the Hospital Workforce Collaborative, which includes nine hospitals in the Phoenix area.

Using the TPM model, the collaborative partnered with Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) to inform the curriculum of healthcare programs at local community colleges, solving previous communication gaps between industry and the community college system. Additionally, the state of Arizona approved a $5.8 million budget request to expand nursing programs at the community colleges, specifically focused on upskilling existing employees. In 2021, nearly 300 students graduated through this new talent pipeline.

The collaborative provided a mechanism for colleges to respond more quickly to market and employer demand, addressing the communication gaps and aligning training to employer needs.

Learning the TPM framework takes place via the TPM Academy®, a training for business, workforce, economic development, and education leaders. TPM Co/Lab, an online learning platform will launch January 31, 2023, to deliver the TPM Academy experience on-demand. Learners will have the opportunity to earn an assessment-based certificate to demonstrate their knowledge of the proven TPM framework and methodologies, while building an international community of peer professionals to learn and grow with. 

About the authors

Makinizi Hoover

Makinizi Hoover is the Senior Manager of Strategic Advocacy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Her work includes the development and project management of comprehensive data centers that serve as a valuable resource for policymakers, businesses, and the public.

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