Pulse of Business: DCEDC Connects Students to Career Opportunities

by Christina Studebaker, Workforce Development Project Manager

Students who have many opportunities after they graduate from high school may find the variety and choice exciting – or overwhelming or scary. Wisconsin’s Department of Public Instruction is helping all students to identify what they would like their next endeavor(s) to be and develop plans to get there.

Door County Economic Development Corporation (DCEDC) is helping students learn about opportunities by connecting them with businesses, which also helps to secure and build the county’s workforce.

DCEDC administers INSPIRE Door County, an online platform that provides students with information about Door and Kewaunee County businesses and allows them to easily connect to tradespeople, artists, musicians, farmers and business professionals who are designated in the system as career coaches.

INSPIRE Door County is part of the larger INSPIRE New North network, which includes 18 northeast-Wisconsin counties. Students in the New North region can connect with career coaches and businesses across the region, which gives Door County businesses and career coaches the chance to inform students outside our county about the great careers and opportunities available here.

INSPIRE and another online platform called Career Cruising are available to students in grades six through 12. Through a Career Cruising account provided by the schools, students can easily explore a wide variety of careers and learn which ones are likely to suit their interests and skills. Through INSPIRE, which students access through Career Cruising, they can connect directly to regional employers to learn about companies that offer jobs and careers in their areas of interest, have discussions with online career coaches, and explore learning experiences such as job shadowing, internships, company tours and summer employment.

If you would like to become an INSPIRE Door County career coach or have your business included in the system, contact Christina Studebaker at [email protected] or 920-743-3113, ext. 205.