Massachusetts’ competitive edge is our skilled workforce.  In our knowledge and innovation economy, skills continue to be critical to our collective success as a Commonwealth. From the perspective of the state’s businesses, the way to remain competitive in a global economy is to continually adapt to niches in the marketplace and offer high quality products and services. That requires skilled, educated workers. From the perspective of our state’s residents, the majority of occupations that offer sufficient wages and benefits to support a family require at least one to two years of post-secondary education or training.  

Commonwealth Corporation’s industry sector initiatives are designed to address the intersection between businesses’ needs for skilled workers and residents’ needs for good paying jobs. Through grant making, technical assistance and research we foster partnerships throughout the state in key industry sectors between businesses, workforce investment boards, career centers, community based organizations, educational institutions and organized labor. These partnerships design, test and sustain programs that prepare the Commonwealth’s youth and adults for high-skill, high-wage careers.