Building an innovative workforce topic of State of the Region Conference

The state of the region today and strategies for preparing a workforce to meet the needs of tomorrow will be the topics of the 15th annual State of the Region Conference. Hosted by BGSU’s Center for Regional Development, the event will take place from 9 a.m. to noon March 20 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Levis Commons in Perrysburg. There will be time for networking beginning at 8 a.m. before the start of the program.

Mark E. Schweitzer, senior vice president for external outreach and regional analytics at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, will give the keynote address on the state of the 19-county region. Schweitzer specializes in the macroeconomic impact of labor market development and identifying factors that contribute to regional economic growth.

Discussion by a reaction panel of economic development leaders along with time for questions and answers will follow his talk.

The featured speaker for the day is Lauren Stiller Rikleen, a nationally recognized expert on developing a thriving, diverse and multigenerational workforce. She is the author of the best-selling book “You Hired Us, Now Work with Us: Career Success and Building Strong Workplace Teams.”

After her talk, a best-practices panel will focus on innovative workforce strategies, featuring Rikleen and representatives from successful companies including Hyland Software, recognized by Fortune 500 in 2016 as one of the top 100 places to work for millennials.

Register to attend 

Guests with disabilities who need special services in order to fully participate are requested to contact Accessibility Services in advance at access@bgsu.edu or 419-372-8495.