At NETWORK2020 Virtual in October, the American Supply Association officially introduced its PROJECT TALENT careers platform squarely aimed at solving the current and future industry workforce challenges.

The PHCP-PVF industry is facing a crisis over the next decade, during which estimates say 55% of ASA member companies’ labor forces will become eligible for retirement, which will impact the industry’s ability to survive. Further, the industry’s future is jeopardized by the inability to adequately staff companies.

To solve this issue, ASA partnered with Boston-headquartered advertising agency Harger Howe to create PROJECT TALENT, which features a detailed media campaign to fast-track and drive targeted traffic through ASA’s website to members’ websites. A robust social media effort will build career-focused communities online that will offer career success stories from small and large companies.

Another key feature is the PROJECT TALENT Career Portal that provides education and tools to ASA members to help them in their recruiting efforts. To assist members in securing new hires through this process, PROJECT TALENT offers a Career Opportunity Toolbox with robust marketing and promotional materials.

All of these resources are available to members through a shared online resource center, which can be accessed right now through the MyASA portal at www.ASA.net.

“PROJECT TALENT will be a game-changer for ASA member companies and the industry as a whole,” ASA CEO Mike Adelizzi said. “It has been well-documented that the PHCP-PVF industry is staring at a labor problem over the next decade. PROJECT TALENT will give ASA member companies abundant resources to solve that problem, showing prospective hires that you can have a long and highly rewarding career in the PHCP-PVF supply chain.”


WHAT DO MEMBERS GET?

ASA is committed to its members’ hiring success, and recognizes the need to help members ensure succession of leadership and a pipeline of qualified candidates to fill jobs. The complexity and scope of this challenge requires a unified industry effort driven by ASA and its member companies.

PROJECT TALENT provides members extensive resources for their recruitment needs to help attract a diverse group of candidates into the industry and their company. The PROJECT TALENT Industry Career Portal provides easy access to a multitude of tools, including:

  •  A free member job board
  •  Industry career website
  •  ASA member directory
  •  Stock photo library
  •  Free collateral templates
  •  Social media promotion
  •  Free PowerPoint templates
  •  Web banner templates
  •  Job description library
  •  HTML email templates
  •  Internship brochures
  •  Poster, flyer and billboard templates.

“In my capacity as president of our advertising agency, I deal with many employers around the country,” Harger Howe President Mike Walsh said.

“When I first started discussing PROJECT TALENT with ASA’s Executive Committee, I was very impressed with their progressive approach to finding and engaging talent for their industry members.  Many of our clients do not plan more than 3 to 6 months down the road, but ASA is already planning a talent engagement strategy for the next 5 to 10 years. A big part of PROJECT TALENT is providing useful, easy-to-access tools and resources for member companies and their recruiters. Any ASA member can take advantage of these tools and assets. This is just the start. We encourage ASA members to become active participants and check their MyASA member portal frequently as we add new material.”

ASA will be hosting a special PROJECT TALENT webinar in the near future that will give ASA member companies a step-by-step look at all the assets available to them through this game-changing platform.


BUILDING ONE FUTURE

PROJECT TALENT is one of three major initiatives in ASA’s Building One Future platform. NETWORK2020 Virtual attendees also were given a tour of the ASA’s D.NEXT innovation lab that is now open in Research Park on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign. Through the use of human-centered design, rapid ideation and primary and secondary research, D.NEXT team members explore the roles, practices, perceptions, trends and technologies that power today’s supply chain, as well as develop solutions to re-architect or retire operating models or to transform interactions from transactional to experimental.
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For more on Building One Future, 
visit www.asa.net/Building-One-Future.