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Recent Articles from Dane Smith
‘Career Pathway’ investment should come first
Minnesota’s enviable but temporary projected budget surplus must be applied first to investing in our increasingly diverse workforce, easily the most important resource on which our long-term prosperity depends. Amid all the conventional signs of growth and prosperity at the top end, with high profits and low unemployment generally, far too many Minnesotans underneath continue ...
Value of higher education is underrated, not overrated
The bottom-line statistical evidence remains overwhelmingly strong about the advantage to individuals and to the rest of society.
Dayton’s moves mesh with equity movement
Minnesota’s enviable but temporary projected budget surplus must be applied first to investing in our increasingly diverse workforce, easily the most important resource on which our long-term prosperity depends. Amid all the conventional signs of growth and prosperity at the top end, with high profits and low unemployment generally, far too many Minnesotans underneath continue ...
Future workforce needs equity, education
Minnesota citizens absolutely need more education and skills, particularly in those sectors and fields that are paying the most and growing the fastest.
Future shock: Imagine these dire predictions in 1995
Imagine a wild-eyed futurist getting up in front of a crowd of Minnesota business and education leaders in 1995, and boldly making these three outlandish predictions.
Some signs of economic fairness emerge from session
Here are some important fronts where progress was made on an equity agenda for Minnesota.
Partnerships for ‘our kids’ deserve support
Both the urban neighborhood partnerships and the more regional Greater Minnesota partnerships are each part of much larger national networks that are gaining ground in many states.
Workforce equity requires top priority
By 2040, about 40 percent of the Twin Cities metropolitan area workforce will be people of color and our state and region will not stay strong economically with racial disparities.
Every Hand Joined helps students succeed
Red Wing is aggressively getting its act together for an increasingly diverse and disadvantaged young population, all under the banner of a new organization called Every Hand Joined.
Creating pathways to the workforce
We ought to consider guaranteeing to all Minnesota youth access to a meaningful postsecondary certificate or degree, with multiple pathways to the most relevant and employable skills and credentials.
Refreshing tone augurs well for equity
While some pessimists are predicting a return to gridlock and dismissing the happy talk as just that, a few important factors are seriously different, and better, this time around.
Summit reveals a workforce equity imperative
Few legislative priorities will matter more in the long run than improving our workforce readiness, equipping workers with the skills and educational attainment that employers seek and that employees must have for prosperous lives.
Top News
- Mexican food trademark fight grinds on in federal court
- Target faces ‘non-drowsy’ meds suit
- Melodie Rose named president at Fredrikson
- Supreme Court lawyers have rituals of their own
- Minnesota artists consider what’s next in AI copyrights
- Defining ‘and’ in sentencing statute falls to Supreme Court
- Hashtag rates higher libel protection
- Court: Performance issues, not bias, prompted union to fire organizer
Expert Testimony
- Briefly: A chat with Supreme Court Commissioner Tim Droske
- Perspectives: Oral arguments at high court stir lively debates
- Quandaries & Quagmires: Advance waivers: Lessons from Paul Hastings vs. Coca Cola
- Perspectives: Recent cellphone ruling recalls high court cases
