Following an extensive nation-wide search, The Maury County Chamber & Economic Alliance (Maury Alliance) is excited to announce Krista Watkins will be joining the Economic Development team as ALIGN Maury Program Manager. In this role, Watkins will spearhead ALIGN Maury efforts from within the organization and support existing industry across Maury County.
“Expanding our economic development program to include a team member focused on workforce development and existing industry support has been a top priority. We are very excited to realize this goal and welcome Krista to the team.” – Travis Groth, VP of Economic Development at Maury Alliance
The ALIGN Maury Program Manager position was created following the results of the Workforce Alignment Study that was conducted in partnership with Boyette Strategic Advisors in 2020. Maury Alliance released the results of this study in March of 2021, kicking off a long-term workforce development initiative titled ALIGN Maury.
The goal of ALIGN Maury is to ensure that workforce resources are used efficiently and effectively to provide a future talent pipeline for Maury County employers. The ultimate purpose of the program is to create a thoughtfully developed local delivery system that maximizes resources and results in a more highly skilled, competitive workforce for our region. An Executive Summary of the study can be found at www.alignmaury.org.
Following the release of the findings, an ALIGN Maury Steering Committee was formed to direct the implementation of key recommendations and progress has already been made towards several key priority items. Continuing this momentum, Watkins will play a formulative role across all aspects of the ALIGN Maury workforce development initiative. She is also tasked with enhancing Maury Alliance’s existing industry support program.
“With Krista’s background, proven leadership skills, and ‘can-do’ attitude, we feel confident that she is the right person to move the ALIGN Maury program forward.” – Wil Evans, President of Maury Alliance
Watkins relocated from Fort Worth, Texas to take the position and brings with her over 15 years of professional and management experience in Workforce Development, Education, and Insurance Litigation. Most recently her work focused on implementing apprenticeship programs in the healthcare industry. She holds an MBA from Webster University and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Business Management.