The InSight Minute: Data, Insights, Action
When we started SkillSmart 10 years ago, there were two important points we hoped to achieve. First, we had a chip on our shoulder about showing the world that a for-profit business, with strong margins, could also have social impact as part of its core strategy. Second, we recognized that in order to thrive, communities need small businesses and skilled labor, and our solutions could help build pathways to participation and success for local and diverse businesses and workers.
We began by combining our real-world experiences with technology to design a skills-based hiring platform to increase the number of workers getting jobs and the pay they receive. This was impactful, and our technology is being applied more broadly to have an even greater impact on communities. Through this process we recognized that what really moves the needle is letting people, organizations, and governments collect and use data from their community, and the communities in which they’re operating, and providing the tools to explore that data and make better decisions to make the community stronger based on those insights.
More simply, we believe in:
Data, Insights, Action
Organizations in most markets are looking for ways to better share the impact they’re having in communities, in part by building a strong foundation of diverse, local business partners and ensuring that local workers are earning wages that allow them to live in that community. In the past, this has been a compliance and regulatory function – a box to be checked – but now this is a dynamic function that can be tailored to each community depending upon its unique needs. So, technology must be adaptive, easy to use, and most importantly, responsive to the needs of the users.
Our InSight platform is being used on large and impactful projects like Virginia’s Hampton Roads Bridge Tunnel, Maryland’s Purple Line, and Amazon’s HQ2 expansion, and it’s also being used in local community-based projects like the mixed-used community development, Carillon in Largo, MD, the Lehigh University’s Clayton University Center, and the Illinois Medical District in Chicago. We are continuing to see more organizations in education, capital infrastructure, local and state governments, construction, airports, mixed-use development, healthcare and others that are looking for improved tools to move beyond compliance to capture their data, understand the insights in that data, and then take action.
As the end of the year approaches and we look to the promise of 2023, we are heartened to see the number of organizations our InSight and Seeker platforms are empowering to be more impactful, ensuring communities can become stronger every day. We look forward to sharing more around the success of these projects, how our solutions address challenges in different sectors, and the positive economic impact communities are seeing by focusing on the important work being done and the individuals performing that work each day.
Our Best for a Wonderful Holiday Season and a Blessed and Prosperous New Year!
