ACT Ready for Work
Podcast Episode 21
Economic Recovery
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify
A first-of-its-kind pandemic is impacting communities around the globe. These unsurmountable challenges seem never-ending: record-breaking unemployment, mandatory business closures, shifts to remote work, social distancing measures, and so much more. In response, regional workforce ecosystems must retool and implement reemployment strategies for the future.
The journey to recovery is something that we will navigate in step with our partners at the local, state, and national levels. Episode 21 of Ready for Work is the first of several episodes with action items to build a resilient workforce ecosystem. In this episode, host Jasen Jones walks through a five-part framework, Adapt, Lead, Engage, Deploy, and Analyze, or ALEDA, to help navigate challenging times and prepare for inevitable impacts on our communities. You’ll hear voices from ACT® Work Ready Communities (WRC) with stories of resilience happening real-time.
“It’s been said that if stopping the economy for coronavirus was like an amputation, that the recovery of our economy will be more like a brain surgery.”
– Jasen Jones
Join the Conversation
Guest Presenters
Denny Smith
Certified WorkKeys Profiler and Director of Testing and Assessment at Calhoun Community College in Alabama
Will Coppage
Executive Director at Washington County Economic Alliance in Mississippi
Lottie Ryans
Director of Workforce and Literacy Initiatives at First Tennessee Development District
Mark Stevans
Director of Special Projects at First Tennessee Development District
Jasen Jones
About Jasen Jones
Jasen Jones joined ACT as a vital member of the Work Ready Communities (workreadycommunities.org) team in 2017. Prior to working with ACT, Jasen managed the award-winning Southwest Missouri Workforce Development Board. His career also includes work with two local Chambers of Commerce and a seven-year stint in radio broadcasting.
Jasen completed the U.S. Chamber Institute for Organization Management at Colorado College and the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma. The National Association of Workforce Development Professionals awarded Jasen the Thomas Ahlers System Building Award in 2015. Throughout his career, Jasen has attained numerous state and national awards, along with being a part of prominent case studies for the integration of workforce and economic development.
Mary LeFebvre
About Mary LeFebvre
Mary LeFebvre is a Principal Research Scientist for ACT Policy. Her primary focus is researching national workforce policy issues, competency supply/demand analysis, program evaluation, and K–Career transitions. Prior to joining ACT in 2010, Mary was the Workforce Research Manager at the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center within the Missouri Department of Economic Development where she provided occupational research, analysis of talent development systems, policy evaluation, and coordination of public and private organizations for business retention research and planning. Mary has an MS in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from Christopher Newport University and a BS in Psychology from Missouri State University.
More episodes from Ready for Work you might enjoy!
Ed Morrison
Getting Strategic About Doing
Lottie Ryans and Mark Stevans
Workforce Response to Tennessee Opioid Crisis
Josh Davies
Work Ethic for the 21st Century Workforce
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