Local Leaders to Convene, Develop Strategies for Capturing Richmond’s $900 Million “Talent Dividend”

By Pamela DiSalvo Lepley and Sheila Redick

In a push to increase the region’s talent pool, Richmond’s business and civic leaders will gather at the invitation of The Community Foundation, Virginia Commonwealth University and Venture Richmond to begin to develop strategies for increasing the city’s college attainment rate as part of the national “Talent Dividend Tour,” from CEOs for Cities and the Lumina Foundation for Education.

An open community forum will be held Tuesday, July 28, 2009, 4 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the VCU Student Commons, Richmond Salons, 907 Floyd Ave.

According to a recent analysis by CEOs for Cities, a national network of urban leaders, Richmond would see an additional $900 million pumped into its economy annually simply by increasing the percentage of people with four-year degrees by just one percentage point.

“If you want to know how well your city is doing when it comes to economic development, there is only one figure you need to know: the percentage of your population who have four-year degrees,” said Carol Coletta, President and CEO of CEOs for Cities. “The research on this is unassailable.  The more talented your city is, the better off it will be. Developing talent from within is an imperative for urban leaders who want their cities to thrive in the knowledge economy.”

Per capita income and college attainment rates are closely correlated. Using data from 2006, each additional percentage point improvement in aggregate adult four-year college attainment is associated with a $763 increase in annual per capita income. CEOs for Cities calculates that raising the national median of the top 51 metro areas from 29.4 percent to 30.4 percent would be associated with an increase in income of $124 billion per year for the nation.

The Talent Dividend Tour is a national tour underwritten by the Lumina Foundation for Education.  Other tour stops include Memphis, Atlanta, Chattanooga, Cincinnati, New Orleans, Milwaukee, Stamford, Pittsburgh, Billings, Indianapolis, Detroit, Tampa, Miami, Dallas, Cleveland, Seattle, San Jose, Denver, Tulsa, Baltimore, Boston, Houston, Jackson, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington D.C.

The research behind the Talent Dividend is part of a larger body of work by CEOs for Cities called The City Dividends, which calculates the monetary value of: increasing college attainment rates by one percentage point (Talent Dividend); decreasing vehicle miles traveled per person per day by one mile (Green Dividend); and decreasing poverty rates by one percentage point (Opportunity Dividend). 

The Talent Dividend FAQ:

How is the Talent Dividend calculated?
The Talent Dividend is calculated by looking at the percentage of people in the city who are 25 years and older with a four-year degree and then increasing that number by one percentage point. We know that a one percentage point increase is associated with a $763 increase in per capita income for the city’s population or $900 million per year for the city.

In a down economy, why should we be focusing on increasing college graduation levels?
If you look at the unemployment numbers, they are not affecting everyone equally.  In fact, according to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (June 2009), overall unemployment was at 9.5 percent, but for those with less than high school, it was at 15.5 percent; for those with no college, 9.8 percent for those with no college, 8 percent for those with some college and at 4.7 percent for those with a four-year degree or higher. 

Are we simply talking about moving people from no degree to a degree?
No.  In fact, we’re talking about moving people up the entire educational pipeline.  The four-year degree is a point on that continuum that we can measure and that we know correlates with an increase in per capita income.  But the focus must be on moving high school drop outs to graduation, moving high school graduates to associates degrees or to four-year degrees or higher. 

What should Richmond do to achieve this?
The meeting of local leaders is the starting point for developing the best strategies and executing the best policies that will move Richmond toward success.  These strategies will be dictated by the assets and opportunities that exist in the city and that make the most sense for Richmond.  There are no cookie-cutter solutions.

About CEOs for Cities

CEOs for Cities is a national cross-sector network of urban leaders from the civic, business, academic and philanthropic sectors dedicated to building and sustaining the next generation of great American cities. We support the development of next generation cities by:

•    Identifying first-look trends and opportunities that represent the best opportunities for cities and the people who live in them to succeed
•    Connecting urban leaders to powerful ideas and each other
•    Articulating the value to cities and the nation of improving performance on key urban success measures
•    Mobilizing new urban activists to execute real change in cities
•    Telling powerful stories about the potential of cities to solve our most pressing problems

CEOs for Cities works with its network partners to develop great cities that excel in the areas most critical to urban success: talent, connections, innovation and distinctiveness.

For more information, visit www.ceosforcities.org/talentdividendtour.