we are also very excited to hear from harold levy from the jack kent cooke foundation and crystal bondsfrom the city university of new york. as governors, we are constantly trying to create more jobs in our state by helping grow existing businesses and attracting new companies from overseas and sometimes even trying to attract jobs and businesses from other states. each governor wants to be the best jobs creation officer in the country. however, before the press releases announcing the latest deal to bring dozens or even thousands of new jobs to our state, we have to answer one really important question; can we actually fill those jobs? unfortunately, it is becoming increasingly difficult for us to answer yes to that question. in the fall of 2014 a business round table survey found that more than half of the ceos from major corporations view the shortage of skilled talent available for open positions as a major hurdle to their u.s. operations. yet this skills gap isn't just affecting our largest companies. last month as part of a national federation of independent business study 80% of

following the secretary, harold levy and crystal bonds will illustrate how innovative state policies are creating opportunities for students every day in high schools and colleges across the country. they will offer action steps for governors to continue to create pathways to current and future high demand job opportunities. following each of their presentation, time is reserved for q&a. the bulk of this session is reserved for governors' discussions to prepare policies in our state that accelerate reform. before we proceed to our program, we'll hear what governors have been doing at the state and federal level to advance education and workforce. so i'm now going to turn our program over to martin simon and richard lane from our best practices group. and they can talk what we're all doing to build the talent pipeline. thank you. >> governor, thank you very much and governor good afternoon, governors. my name is richard lane. my colleagues and i are the team that provide consulting service to you all and your staff to help you answer many of the questions when you ask the question wha

following the secretary harold levy and crystal bonds will illustrate how innovative state policies are creating opportunities for students every day in high schools and colleges across the country. they will offer action steps for governors to continue to create pathways to current and future high demand job opportunities. following each of their presentations time is reserved for q & a. the bulk of the time is reserved for governors to discuss policies. before we proceed to the program we'll hear what governors have been doing to advance education and workforce so i'm now going to turn our program over to martin simon and richard layne from our best practices group and they can talk about what we're all doing to build the talent pipeline. thank you. >> thank you very much. i am the director of education for the national governors association center for best practice. and my colleagues and i are the team that provide consulting service to you all and your staff and help you answer many questions when you ask what does research say about best practice? what are the programs in the state