Welcome to EnterpriseSouth.biz!A project of Southern Growth Policies Board and the Council on the New Economy Workforce, EnterpriseSouth.biz is designed to encourage, support and document the efforts of the Southern states in building an enterprise economy and workforce. This site will track the Southern Growth member states' progress in implementing the CONVENE, CONNECT and COMMIT strategy that was presented in Southern Growth's EnterpriseSouth.biz report, the 2007 Report on the Future of the South. The website includes state workforce data, profiles of the report's strategies and a dynamic space for Southern states to track their activities and accomplishments. As presented in the EnterpriseSouth.biz report, the South’s education and economic achievements levels have remained below the U.S. average for more than 20 years. Southern per capital income in 2005 is no closer to the national average than it was in 1995, and little better than it was in 1975. The South has also not made any sustained gains in closing the educational achievement gap. The gap between the South’s and the nation’s percentage of the over 25 population with a bachelor’s degree or higher was greater in 2000 (U.S. 24 percent, South 20 percent) than it was in 1980 (U.S. 16 percent, South 14 percent). Recommendations included in EnterpriseSouth.biz call for Southern states and communities to engage in a cultural shift towards an enterprise economy, characterized by a knowledgeable, entrepreneurial and innovative workforce using a three-pronged strategy: CONVENE, CONNECT and COMMIT. The strategy suggests that leaders CONVENE a series of conversations that include not only the business, government, non-profit and education communities but also parents, students and the public at large. These meetings should be designed to help put the public back in public education, and to CONNECT the various elements of public and private education to maximize effectiveness. The process is designed to encourage all parties to COMMIT to a non-partisan contract to build a southern workforce that is both enterprising and globally competitive. Visit your state's link to see what activities are occurring in the CONVENE, CONNECT, COMMIT model.
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Southern Growth Policies Board, P.O. Box 12293, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 |