Agenda - Council - 10/25/1983 - Laserfiche WebLink

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The Council acquired a great deal of coordination experience through the former A~95 review program and the Metropolitan Land Planning Act° That experience can help coordinate the activities of businesses and developers with reviews by the local, state and federal governments. Perhaps of most use for private planning and the economic development process is the.information the Council can provide. The Council distributes a variety of regional economic data, census data, land use information, and employment, business and labor force information~ In addition, the Council has available the information contained in all the local land use plans for the Region. Much of the above information can be packaged and provided upon request. In addition, it will be used in reviews of proposed projects to let both devel- opers and the public know what else is planned in the immediate vicinity of the project or forecast for the Region. THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL WILL HELP IMPROVE THE REGION'S ENTREPRENEURIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CLIMATE BY SPONSORING RESEARCH, TASK FORCES AND FORUMS FOCUSING ON REGIONAL ECONOMIC ISSUES. The Council will encourage the enhancement of regional economic climate by identifying and researching issues of importance to regional development and by examining potential roles for the Council in these areas~ The issues would be studied by staff through the use of task forces and public forums. Some examples of pertinent research issues include a regionally based world trade center, a regional cable television station, a Twin Cities Area Teleport (an advanced telecommunications network using fiber optics and satellite technol- ogies for interregional telecommunications), evaluation of state and local economic development financing options in the event of substantial federal program cutbacks, and convention business and tourism. Recon~endations to the Legislature would be made based on the results of such economic research. I. THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL WILL EXAMINE THE ISSUE OF EDUCATION AND RETRAINING OF THE REGION'S LABOR FORCE. The economy is undergoing significant changes in the structure of its labor force. These structural changes create a need for two types of job-training programs. One should be designed to prepare the poor, economically disadvant- aged and hard-core unemployed for participation in the labor force. One should be designed to retrain displaced manufacturing workers and other structurally unemployed persons. Both government policymakers and private sector leaders recognize the need to address these educational and retraining issues. Yet, no one agency or organi- zation is coordinating the many educational and retraining efforts. Instead, many sectors are addressing the issue at a number of different levels. The federal government, through the Job Training Partnership Act, has delegated responsiblity for job retraining to state governments. The act is targeted toward occupational training for the hard-to-employ. It emphasizes private sector job training in conjunction with local public service delivery systems. In addition, many private sector industries are instituting in-house retraining programs for their employees. The primary and secondary school systems and the vocational-technical programs are responsible for_providing young people with the skills necessary to function in an increasingly service and high-technology- oriented society. 12