National Center on Education and the Economy
New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce
In 1990, the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) retained Widmeyer Communications to provide strategic counsel and implementation for its report “America’s Choice: High Skills or Low Wages!”. NCEE reconvened their Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce in 2005 and embarked on a series of research missions. The research led to a call for a dramatic remaking of the country’s pre-K–16 system. The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce released its recommendations in December 2006 at a Washington, D.C., news conference and published an accompanying book, “Tough Choices or Tough Times.” Widmeyer used our numerous contacts in the education and workforce communities, in the media and in government, to generate support for the proposal and the Commission. In addition, we developed www.SkillsCommission.org Web site as a hub for all Commission related materials and contact information.
Results:
Widmeyer engaged TIME magazine in a discussion about the report and its importance. Thus securing a cover story about “How to Build a Student for the 21st Century,” that would be published right before the launch of the report. We secured prominent and positive news coverage in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Associated Press, Bloomberg News, Christian Science Monitor and the Chronicle of Higher Education. New York Times nationally syndicated columnist Thomas Friedman endorsed the Commission and its recommendations in a column shortly after the news conference releasing the report. In addition to print media, we reached out to producers at the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and secured a full-length story about the Commission’s work and how it would impact schools.
To date, over 16,000 copies of “Tough Choices or Tough Times,” have been sold in stores and online. Shortly after its release, the book was in the Top 20 of all publications for sale on Amazon.com.
Perhaps the best feedback for our work on this project came from Commission Member and former Chair of the Republican National Committee Sen. Bill Brock who said, “The best launch of a report I have ever seen. Thank you for your work.”
