Talent Summit
Hosted by the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce
At the Talent Summit, you will learn about purpose-driven education and employment with a passion. Discovering insights into the regional labor market, workforce challenges and initiatives, and the growing opportunities of modern youth apprenticeships.
Date:
April 23, 2025
Time:
7:30 am – 2:30 pm
Location:
Pedersen Toyota Center | 5280 Arena Cir Loveland, CO
Join us for our Annual Talent Summit
Kickoff With TIPS Strategies
We begin the morning with a presentation from TIP Strategies. They will present their work to update the Workforce Data and Talent 2.0 with a Talent Supply and Demand Analysis, culminating in a Labor Market Profile for Larimer and Weld Counties.
This data is important to assist regional partners in Northern Colorado to establish a common understanding of the region’s labor market, workforce challenges and opportunities, and existing programs and initiatives.
Thank you to the City of Fort Collins, Larimer County Economic and Workforce Development, and the Fort Collins Area Chamber of Commerce for supporting this work.
TIP Strategies is a privately held Austin, Texas-based firm providing consulting and advisory services to public and private sector clients. Established in 1995, the firm’s core competencies are strategic planning for economic development, talent strategies, organizational development, resiliency planning, and equity initiatives.
Keynote Speaker – Mark C. Perna
At more than 80 events every year, Mark delivers a keynote address that you will actually remember. His actionable strategies and heartfelt inspiration have brought audiences all over North America to their feet. Mark started a national movement to connect the pipelines between education, employment, and economic development. Through his Perna Syndicate podcast library, he reaches listeners in more than 70 countries with the message of purpose-driven education and employment with passion.
Discover the game-changing strategies that are shifting the education and employment paradigm nationwide. Everyone—educators, employers, economic developers, parents, stakeholders, and community leaders—can use Mark’s nationally acclaimed tools to unleash the true potential of today’s younger generations.
Together, Millennials and Gen Z comprise the Why Generation—and they’re one of the most talented, resourceful, and tenacious generations to come down the pike.
With humor and candor, Mark unlocks the secrets of the Why Generation: how they think, what makes them tick, and how they make decisions. They can achieve beyond all expectations, if we bridge the generational divide and answer their why.
Attendees will receive a copy of Mark’s Book – In Answering Why: Unleashing Passion, Purpose & Performance in Younger Generations.
Resource Booths
As previous Talent Summit attendees have requested, we have scheduled time for you to visit our 18 resource booths. Meet and learn from our education providers from K-12, community colleges, and higher education. Do you know what our local workforce centers can do for you? What is a Sector Partnership? How can you get involved in the six in NoCo? What are the benefits of hiring a veteran?
Having so many resources in one place will be a one-stop opportunity for you to add to your knowledge and your resource list of partners to support your talent and workforce needs.
NoCo Works Update
A regional talent and workforce ecosystem across Northern Colorado, led by 25+ organizations in Larimer and Weld counties. Their mission is to create an effective, efficient, and aligned talent and workforce ecosystem for NoCo that can show measurable results.
The vision is for a regional coalition to foster an inclusive and economically healthy community. Streamlining access to resources and services, minimizing duplication of efforts, and elevating best practices and rallying support for existing efforts, are the commitments of NoCo Works.
Updates will include how NoCo Works is supporting NoCo employers in attracting, retaining and growing their workforce. Supporting the workforce (future and current) in obtaining and retaining Quality Jobs in NoCo and supporting the NoCo ecosystem to improve the prosperity of our talent and workforce systems.
Apprenticeship Opportunities in Northern Colorado
Today, the burden of educating the newest members of the workforce falls directly on our schools. But businesses are having difficulty finding employees with the appropriate competencies to effectively fill skilled positions. Modern youth apprenticeship addresses the problem by helping businesses have a hand in shaping their young talent and providing the education system with an applied-learning environment for its students.
For students, youth apprenticeship is an options multiplier. Apprenticeship can be a powerful enhancement to their education or a fast-track to a middle-class career, or both.
Apprenticeship is not a diversion from higher education, it’s a rigorous education option that combines theoretical learning with practical learning that focuses career and education objectives. It can also be a direct path to high-paying, in-demand jobs in Business Operations, Financial Services, Advanced Manufacturing, Information Technology, Healthcare and others.
Any student—regardless of future plans—can benefit from apprenticeship. A student can start as an apprentice and end with a Ph.D., or an apprenticeship can train a student to step directly into a bookkeeper position so they can go on to be a CFO. It’s a model of education that reveals multiple options to career and higher education.
In our final session, attendees will learn more about the nuts and bolts of a modern youth apprenticeship.
Thank You 2025 Talent Summit Sponsors
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