Joe Quick
Joe Quick has nearly 20 years of experience in public and non-profit workforce, economic development, and education leadership, policy, and strategy, spanning federal, state, and regional and local levels. At AIR, Quick serves in key thought leadership and strategy roles to advance AIR’s efforts to support the nation through industry-driven and worker-centered workforce development and quality career and technical education (CTE) and work-based learning, among others. He provides project direction, client management, team leadership, and subject matter expertise to government, non-profit, industry intermediary, private sector, and foundation clients through technical assistance, coaching, strategic planning facilitation, strategy development, training design and delivery; qualitative research and analysis; and resource development to support systems and organizational design and innovation, change management, and continuous improvement in economic development, workforce development, and education systems.
Quick’s areas of expertise include workforce development, economic development, and education strategy; demand-driven business services and engagement; sector strategies and career pathways; regional talent pipeline development and workforce planning; community college, career-technical education (CTE) and K-12 workforce-focused programming; quality work-based learning and apprenticeship; durable/employability skills; industry-recognized credentials of value; dual-credit; education-to-workforce transition; talent attraction and retention; strategic planning and facilitation; interagency collaboration; organizational design and change management; the economics of place; geospatial analysis of education and workforce program relevance and geographic accessibility; credential standards, competency frameworks, and skills data; skills-based hiring; labor market information and skills gap analysis; talent/HR analytics; economic resiliency and economic mobility; and occupational licensing, among others.
Quick has provided various levels of technical assistance and consultation to all U.S. states and territories, as well as the U.S. Department of Labor and U.S. Department of Education, U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, and multiple national and regional foundations, chambers of commerce, economic development organizations, and nonprofits. He currently also serves as co-lead of AIR’s CTE node, and as a TPM Academy® Faculty Member and TPM Fellow for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Talent Pipeline Management® (TPM) initiative.
Before joining Maher full-time, Quick was an independent consultant and owner of J. Quick Consulting, LLC. Prior to consulting work, he served in increasingly senior positions at the Michigan Works! Association, Michigan Workforce Development Agency, and Michigan Economic Development Corporation. These roles included significant staff, program, and project management, including the design and launch of Michigan’s Pure Michigan Talent Connect job board and labor exchange website, and the launch and direction of multiple talent attraction, acquisition, and retention programs and services. He also led marketing and outreach efforts to align talent efforts with the Pure Michigan campaign, tracked talent metrics and intelligence efforts, launched one of the country’s first government-sponsored virtual career fair programs, led large-scale national recruitment events, and negotiated millions of dollars in business growth and retention incentives during the Great Recession. Prior to his focus on workforce development and education, Quick’s work focused on American Indian tribal history, genealogy, policy, and economic development.
