Mike Rogers Casts Vision for Arkansas' Workforce Strategy

Mike Rogers, Chief Workforce Officer for Arkansas, is passionate about connecting Arkansans to stable employment. It is his belief that identifying talent empowers individuals to thrive in every other area of life.

Rogers taught agriculture and industrial maintenance at Siloam Springs High School for 20 years. In that time, he says he witnessed many high school families whose lack of resources and connections made it challenging to imagine a stable future.

"My heart went out to people," he says, "what they must go through and how do we slow down enough to get to know who they are, where they are, and how we define the process?"

Rogers believes the solution lies in a new software called LAUNCH that is accessible through the arkansas.gov website. He describes it as an employment database that combines some methodology of eHarmony and Linkedin. His vision for this service is to provide a quick and effective way to connect employment seekers, employers, and students.

A unique aspect of this platform that is different from other popular job seeking sites is that it focuses on "skill-based hiring." This strategy focuses more on aptitude than training or past experience. This is particularly helpful for employment seekers who have struggled with employment in the past.

"How do we get past the noise to a place where we can see someone's capable, their attitudes and their ability?"

Rogers gives examples of people he knows who on paper don't seem qualified for the a certain job, but are very capable under the right circumstances.

"As an employer, I would hire engineers that were not licensed. I hired off of competency. If you can do it, I don't care where you learned it."

While many aspects of Launch are still being piloted and developed, it has potential to connect people to more long term compatible employment and make access to government programs more easy and efficient.