Regional Talent Summit in Durango Sparks Collaboration

The Attainment Network was honored to serve as one of the hosts for last week’s Opportunity Now Regional Talent Summit held in Durango, alongside the La Plata Economic Development Alliance and Fort Lewis College.

The Summit brought together employers, educators, and community organizations from across Southwest Colorado and the San Luis Valley to discuss talent shortages – especially in healthcare, technology, and agriculture – and align around plans to build qualified local talent pipelines.

As this recent article highlights, these conversations were part of a statewide series convened by the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade through the Opportunity Now program. The summits are designed to foster collaboration needed to build education-to-workforce systems that provide inclusive opportunities for learners and earners while meeting critical local workforce needs – which is exactly what The Attainment Network excels at. In fact, our partnership in the San Luis Valley is making incredible progress toward our goals:

We are 76% of the way toward our goal to train 70 new Certified Nurse Assistants
We’re 50% complete with our goal to train 60 new Medical Assistants.
We aim to place 78 learners in paid healthcare internships, and we’re 31% of the way there.
We are also committed to supporting 50 current healthcare employs as they acquire additional education to advance in their careers, and we’re 30% of the way toward this upskilling goal.

👏 A big thank you to the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, Innovate Work Consulting, and our fellow hosts at La Plata Economic Development Alliance and Fort Lewis College for helping to lead this effort.

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