The cover story of October’s Business in Focus Magazine, "Blue Gold," describes the current landscape of the economic workforce: there’s a significant shortage of skills, an oversaturation of degreed workers and a high demand for blue collar workers. Employers are therefore interested in tapping into the pool of opportunity that is the thousands of American high school students, explains author Jen Hocken.

To do that, they need to partner with local school districts. Hocken features NSBA’s LifeReady Campaign as a bridge between employer, school district and student.

“As employers look to high schools to help them mitigate labour challenges, the National School Boards Association’s “Commission to Close the Skills Gap” is meeting them half-way. The Commission has developed a plan to help school boards around the country prepare students for the opportunities awaiting those who follow a career path into the trades.”

Read more of Business in Focus Magazine’s coverage of the LifeReady campaign on their website.