Click here to read the full transcript (PDF).

Thursday, July 23, 2009, 8:00 am to 11:00 am 
Baruch College Vertical Campus
55 Lexington Avenue (at 24th Street), 14th floor

New York City has maintained its economic pre-eminence in recent years thanks in large part to its unmatched store of human capital. Employers of all types want to be here because of the city’s unparalleled pool of highly talented, creative and skilled workers. But there are problems on the horizon that could cause the city to lose some of its competitive advantage in human capital. Several key industries expect workforce shortages in the future. Other sectors anticipate new challenges in finding qualified employees as their jobs require higher levels of skills and educational attainment. And for many employers, the local education system is not producing sufficient numbers of adequately trained workers. This has always been a problem, but it could become a more urgent concern if intensifying economic competition, changes in immigration or the city’s high cost of living imperils the city's ability to exert so powerful a pull on the globe’s best and brightest.

This conference, co-sponsored by the Center for an Urban Future and the Community Service Society, will focus on the current and future human capital needs of New York City's business community. It will examine questions such as: What are the major challenges that New York’s employers face in hiring employees? Will employers in the city be looking for a different set of skills in newly hired workers in the coming years than was the case ten or twenty years ago? What government policies and actions would be most valuable in helping to provide a steady pipeline of appropriately skilled workers? Could the city’s public colleges and community colleges play a more active role in helping local businesses train and retrain their employees?

Keynote address: Dr. Matthew Goldstein, Chancellor, City University of New York

Panelists: 
• Cristóbal Conde, President and CEO, SunGard
• Colvin Grannum, President and CEO, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation 
• Tim Nitti, Principal, KLG Advisors 
• Dr. Herbert Pardes, President and CEO, New York-Presbyterian Hospital
• Frank Sciame, CEO, F.J. Sciame Construction 
• Kathryn Wylde, President and CEO, Partnership for New York City

Moderator: Greg David, Editorial Director, Crain's New York Business

Summary discussion: Where Do We Go from Here?:

Seth Pinsky, President, New York City Economic Development Corporation
Jonathan Bowles (moderator), Director, Center for an Urban Future

This conference is the first of a two-part series examining the human capital needs of New York City, made possible through generous support from the Altman Foundation and the Ira W. DeCamp Foundation.