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The Southern Institute on Children and Families is
pleased to release the
Southern Business Leadership Council Upstate South Carolina Employer Initiative
Project Report. The report describes employer perspectives on issues related
to lower-wage employment stability gathered through interviews conducted with
employers from the Upstate region of South Carolina and provides summary
information on employer views collected during an Employer Dialogue Session held
in Greenville in May 2007. Please continue reading below to learn more about
this initiative.
The Southern Business Leadership Council (SBLC) Upstate
South Carolina (SC) Employer Initiative began in March 2007. The Upstate area of
SC is one of three communities in which the Southern Institute on Children and
Families visited to identify employer perspectives on challenges and
opportunities related to promoting stability in the low-wage workforce. Employer
initiatives were conducted in the District of Columbia Metropolitan Area in 2006
and in Charlotte, North Carolina in early 2007. Upon completion of all employer
initiatives an analysis of findings was prepared to assist the SBLC in
development of the Southern Business Leadership Council Employment
Stability Action Plan.
The SBLC Upstate SC Employer Initiative includes
employer interviews and an Employer Dialogue Session to produce firsthand
employer insight on barriers to stable employment and strategies to assist
low-wage individuals with improving stability in the workplace. Quantitative and
qualitative data was gathered through telephone interviews with employers from
the Upstate SC area, during which they were asked to answer questions and
provide comments on specific issues, as well as to share information on
strategies they have utilized to improve worker stability. Employer interviews
took place during April 2007.
On May 2, 2007, the Southern Institute conducted the
Upstate SC Employer Dialogue Session. We worked with area chambers of commerce
to develop an invitation list, and employers from Anderson, Greenville and
Spartanburg participated. The Southern Institute has extensive experience in
conducting dialogue sessions to identify barriers and promising practices and is
recognized for its design and execution of dialogue sessions that produce
information needed to develop action plans.
The Southern Institute completed a report on the SBLC
Upstate SC Employer Initiative in August 2007 that was disseminated to sponsors,
Upstate SC Employer Dialogue Session participants and SBLC members. A PDF
version of the
SBLC Upstate SC Employer Initiative Project Report is available on this Web
site. The report includes data gathered through the employer interviews and the
Employer Dialogue Session. The report also describes barriers to employment
stability and strategies employers have tried in an effort to improve stability
as reported by Upstate SC employers. Participating employers and sponsors will
receive the Southern Business Leadership Council Employment Stability
Action Plan when it is released in 2008.
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