Economic Development
Regional Economic Development & Workforce Ecosystem Strategy
Building capacity in a region requires the same discipline as transforming an organization's culture: you have to understand the ecosystem before you can change it, align stakeholders who rarely talk to each other, and design for outcomes that outlast the intervention.
That cross-sector fluency is what we bring to regional economic development.
We work with municipalities, state agencies, employers, educational institutions, foundations, and community organizations to design and build workforce ecosystems that create real economic mobility — not just job placement.
Our work includes aligning workforce and economic development strategy, establishing sector-based partnerships, and building sustainable talent pipelines for underserved communities across skilled trades, technology, healthcare, clean energy, and emerging sectors.
Our engagements span the full development cycle. We partner with research firms on feasibility studies and labor market analysis. We advise government clients on program design and labor policy. We support funders with investment strategy and provide grantee oversight through mentoring, data collection, and program evaluation. And we work directly with nonprofits, community organizations, and businesses at every scale to build programs that are practical, measurable, and built to last. That means embedding recruiting strategies that reach targeted populations and social supports that keep participants engaged — because program design that ignores both rarely delivers on its promise.
Our work includes aligning workforce and economic development strategy, establishing sector-based partnerships, and building sustainable talent pipelines for underserved communities across skilled trades, technology, healthcare, clean energy, and emerging sectors.
Our engagements span the full development cycle. We partner with research firms on feasibility studies and labor market analysis. We advise government clients on program design and labor policy. We support funders
with investment strategy and provide grantee oversight through mentoring, data collection, and program evaluation. And we work directly with nonprofits, community organizations, and businesses at every scale to build programs that are practical, measurable, and built to last. That means embedding recruiting strategies that reach targeted populations and social supports that keep participants engaged — because program design that ignores both rarely delivers on its promise.
Our Clients
Municipal & State Governments
We advise government clients at every stage of workforce and economic development strategy — from initial feasibility and program design through implementation oversight and outcome reporting. We help translate policy goals into operational reality, align fragmented programs under a cohesive strategy, and build the stakeholder partnerships that make government initiatives sustainable.
Community-Based Organizations
We work alongside community-based organizations to strengthen organizational capacity, sharpen program design, and build the partnerships and data systems needed to compete for funding and sustain impact. We understand that CBOs often hold the deepest community trust and the least institutional infrastructure — our role is to close that gap without compromising their mission or voice.
Research Firms
We partner with research firms on the front end of economic development initiatives — contributing workforce expertise to feasibility studies, labor market analyses, and candidate profile development. We help translate research findings into actionable program design and ensure that equity and access considerations are embedded in the methodology from the start.
Nonprofits
We support nonprofits, including emerging organizations to established regional institutions, across the full program lifecycle — from needs assessment and strategic planning through launch, implementation, and evaluation. We help nonprofit leaders make the case to funders, build alliances with employers and government partners, and design workforce programs that create genuine economic mobility for the populations they serve.
Foundations
We advise foundations on workforce and economic development investment strategy, helping align grant portfolios with measurable outcomes and long-term community impact. For active grantees, we provide oversight support including mentoring, data collection infrastructure, performance evaluation, and capacity building — ensuring funded programs deliver on their promise and can demonstrate it.
Fortune 100 Companies
We help large employers align workforce investment with business strategy — designing talent pipelines that address skills gaps, building partnerships with training providers and educational institutions, and embedding equity into hiring, development, and retention practices. We also advise on community investment strategy, helping companies move beyond one-time community investment toward workforce initiatives that generate sustained returns for both the business and the communities where they operate.
“Companies with highly diverse teams noticed a significant increase in cash flow — to the tune of 2.5 times per employee.”
Our Services
Our services span the full arc of human capital-centered economic development — from concept development and research through implementation, evaluation, and long-term sustainability. Every engagement is grounded in data, designed for equity, and built to produce outcomes that can be documented and scaled.
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Workforce program design from concept to launch
Evaluation framework development and implementation
Outcome metrics design and benchmarking
Wraparound support integration (retention, navigation, persistence)
Protocol and systems development to improve program and participant outcomes
Post-launch program refinement and optimization
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Strategic planning for workforce and economic development initiatives
Business planning for training organizations and workforce intermediaries
Feasibility assessment for new programs and partnerships
Theory of change development
Sustainability and revenue modeling
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Organizational needs assessment
Strategic landscape and competitive analysis
Gap assessment across programs, populations, and markets
Organizational readiness evaluation
Staff and leadership capability development
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Public-private partnership design and brokerage
Coalition and consortium building across employers, educators, and community organizations
Stakeholder mapping and engagement strategy
Cross-sector alliance development around shared workforce goals
Funder and investor relationship strategy
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Emerging market talent pipeline design
Targeted population recruitment and pathway development
Sector-based workforce pipeline strategy (advanced manufacturing, clean energy, infrastructure, tech)
Employee engagement and job placement infrastructure
Industry job ladder and skills credentialing design
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Launch planning including training, communications, and stakeholder readiness
Implementation oversight and project management
Change management support
Stakeholder communication design
Risk identification and mitigation
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Labor market and landscape research
Data infrastructure design for workforce programs
Progress reporting for boards, funders, government partners, and stakeholders
Grant and proposal development
Policy analysis and activation
Case Study: Building Wealth Where It Wasn't Expected
Northland Workforce Training Center | Buffalo, NY
The challenge facing Western New York's advanced manufacturing sector was easy to diagnose and difficult to solve: a looming retirement cliff, a skills gap in the regional labor pool, and an underserved East Side community with limited access to the economic opportunities that manufacturing could provide.
What wasn't straightforward was designing a program capable of solving all the problems at once. The community needed a solution that served employers, educational institutions, community organizations, and government partners while remaining relentlessly focused on the people it was built for: unemployed and underemployed Western New Yorkers who needed more than training. They needed a genuine on-ramp to economic participation.
Sharon Jones was deeply involved in the design and execution of that system. Drawing on her expertise in equitable workforce strategy and sustainable talent pipeline development, she helped shape what would become the Northland Workforce Training Center — a 90,000-square-foot public-private partnership on Buffalo's East Side, opened in 2018 under the leadership of President and CEO Stephen Tucker.
NWTC offers for-credit certificate and degree programs in welding, electrical construction, CNC manufacturing, and mechatronics through partnerships with Alfred State College and SUNY Erie Community College, embedded with intensive wraparound support, retention services, and direct job placement.
The results were staggering by any measure — and unprecedented by most.
Completion rates reached 62%, double the national average and nearly triple the local community college rate. Eighty-two percent of graduates were hired directly into advanced manufacturing careers. Minority enrollment hit 59% in Spring 2024, reflecting the community NWTC was built to serve. And the program's second-year retention rate of 73% validated the wraparound model at scale.
But the outcome that distinguishes NWTC from every comparable program is this: participants didn't just gain access to steady, well-paying work. Some also received stock options — creating a level of personal wealth that redefines what workforce development can mean for a community historically excluded from it.
NWTC is now scaling its programming, expanding into clean energy and automotive technology, and cementing its role as an anchor institution in the Northland Corridor. It stands as proof that when inclusion is designed with rigor and executed with intention, the returns go far beyond employment.