NEWSFLASH. Sam Altman, founder and CEO of Open AI, and other tech titans of the artificial intelligence revolution have started to revise their prognostications regarding the job market. They now admit that real-world adoption and societal reaction to AI continues to diverge from their original, neat Silicon Valley projections. If the inventors of the future can’t figure out where the jobs will or won’t be, then who can? Ever since the Information Age washed over the nation, career counselors have advised flexibility and adaptability. But this is no simple feat – there’s no playbook to follow since so much of what is happening is unprecedented. All around us, traditional career pathways and institutions are crumbling while promising new avenues are being born. But it’s increasingly hard to figure out a good course of action. Only a few years ago everyone thought computer science and programming was a rock-solid career choice. But that field is now in the bullseye of the AI job-killing revolution. It’s just a sign of the times.

Recognizing a need for leadership in revealing and fostering a workforce for the future, Ulster County government, along with SUNY New Paltz, SUNY Ulster, Ulster BOCES, the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency and local businesses are coming together to host the Economic Futures Summit on Oct. 27 at SUNY New Paltz, free and open to the public to attend. Summit participants will work to collaboratively find local synergies and networks that address daunting employment challenges in today’s economic climate.

You could be forgiven for asking what took them so long to do this. Yes, Ulster is behind the eight-ball, especially when it comes to any form of coordinated strategy, promotion and implementation for jobs and economic development. But it’s better late than never, especially since career creative destruction is just warming up.

The mismatch between worker skills and future job needs is an enormous economic challenge. It limits our collective economic growth and prosperity potential. Today’s employment changes appear bigger than the desktop and robotics revolutions of the 1980s and the dot-com internet revolution in the late ’90s and 2000s. This isn’t just impacting Silicon Valley and big cities. It’s rolling over the entire planet, including rural areas like little ole Kingston and Ulster County. Artificial intelligence, green energy and automation mean tens of millions of jobs will change or disappear.

Many workers lack the kinds of digital and technical skills required for these emerging roles. A liberal arts education no longer suffices for guaranteed employment. In comparison, vocational and skilled trade fields face high demand, driven by infrastructure upgrades, a retiring traditional workforce and the rapid expansion of green energy and smart technology. Today, the most sought-after technical skills include construction, renewable energy, advanced manufacturing and healthcare support.

Skills, portfolios, certifications and practical abilities now replace traditional degrees as the main currency for jobs. Remote work is also here to stay, expanding talent pools, opportunities and competition by embracing once distant communities, like Ulster County. And employer-led training is growing – with businesses competing for trainable employees and creating their own skilled labor in order to remain competitive.

And let us not overlook growing entrepreneurialism. New business applications remain well above pre-2020 levels, driven by younger founders, new technology tools like AI and a strong shift toward flexible, independent work. Entrepreneurship is one of the most reliable paths to wealth, but it is also a high-risk gamble. That said, reduced aversion to risk-taking is already baked in the cake these days when it comes to planning for one’s career and future.

Many of the aforementioned changes in the workforce will be covered at the Ulster County Economic Futures Summit in October. By bringing all of the local offices engaged in career pathways together at one time in one place – business, education, labor and government – the hope is that new and stronger connections and relationships can be built to better prepare our communities for a new employment age. For something of this magnitude, it surely takes a village.

According to the county, the summit will center on the core question: How can Ulster County create stronger pathways from education to meaningful local careers while supporting long‑term economic resilience? Not just in the abstract, but with concentrated industry focus in Ulster’s strong suits in advanced manufacturing, value-added agricultural and food production, healthcare, green construction, energy and trade and film and media. “The Ulster County Economic Futures Summit is about building a more connected ecosystem of educators and employers, and creating pathways to good careers that meet current and emerging needs in key economic sectors,” says Ulster County Executive Jen Metzger.

According to Assistant Deputy County Executive Amberly Jane Campbell, "The Summit is primarily a ‘how can’ conversation – focused on practical, immediate ways to strengthen education‑to‑career pathways and better align existing programs with the workforce needs of local industries. We already have strong partnerships and successful applied‑learning models in place, and much of the day will be spent looking at how those models work, how they can be expanded and how they can be replicated across sectors.”

When asked if the county intends to use information from the summit for countywide economic development strategizing, Campbell said "the county absolutely intends to use the insights from the Summit to inform the county‑wide economic development strategy. The discussions and recommendations that emerge — including those shaped by student participation — will help define and guide how we strengthen education‑to‑career pathways across Ulster County.”

In addition, she said “we will also produce a summary of findings after the event. That document will help infuse the Summit’s insights into the work of multiple departments, including the Offices of Economic Development and Employment and Training under Director Sharon Williams, and will support aligned strategies across our broader economic development efforts.”

While the initial press release on the Economic Futures Summit had few details on any local business participation, Campbell explained that “while the organizing committee is made up of county and education partners, we are actively engaging the business community. As noted in the release, the committee is meeting with employers, business groups, and other stakeholders to identify alignment opportunities and ensure strong private‑sector representation. … All local businesses are welcome to attend, and there will be opportunities for employers to share their experiences, insights, concerns and ideas.”

The Economic Futures Summit is a very welcome initiative, and I encourage those invested in local economic development to attend and participate. Given the extensive disruption and changes in all areas of employment today and the murkiness in career forecasting, thoughtful discussions and leadership such as this can only benefit our area in order to remain economically vibrant and relevant.

I hope to see you there on Oct. 27.

For more information or to sign up for the Summit email list, click here.