In early 2022, the North Shore Technology Council, in collaboration with Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF), MassHire North Shore Workforce Investment Board, Endicott College and North Shore InnoVentures decided to look more closely at the growing workforce needs of technology companies located North of Boston. In consultation with several key technology companies, we initiated a brainstorming and planning process, which included identifying the need for a major regional event on the workforce topic topic for the North Shore.

On May 23, 2022, we convened “Re-Imagining our Technology Workforce on the North Shore” at Endicott College with about 65 professionals from industry, government, academia and non-profit organizations gathering to discuss the workforce challenges facing the technology industry on the North Shore.  After presentations from three state-wide leaders -- Kendall Burlin O’Connell, President and COO of MassBio, Carolyn Kirk, Executive Director of Massachusetts Technology Collaborative and Sara Fraim, Vice President, Programs & Policy of the Mass Technology Leadership Council, the participants engaged in a dynamic “Think Lab” breakout process, facilitated by staff from ECCF. A robust discussion of ideas and concepts for finding creative, sustainable solutions to the workforce needs of the North Shore’s technology industry emerged from both the presentations and the breakout groups.

We have compiled the results of these productive discussions and materials from the event into a comprehensive report, "Re-Imagining Our Technology Workforce on the North Shore: A Community Think Lab" released in October 2022. We intend for this report to further the conversation and build more awareness around tech workforce opportunities, including apprenticeship/internship programs, in our region. NSTC looks forward to building on this report with our members and partners. If you would like to be part of this initiative or provide feedback on our efforts, please drop us a note at administrator@nstc.org.