Washington state's Employment Security Department (ESD) - Labor Market and Economic Analysis (LMEA) division invites you to attend:

2021 Economic Symposium
An all virtual event
Live event: June 15 and 16

The Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) is convening government, private sector, small business, non-profit and community leaders from across the state to address key workforce and economic development challenges as well as share data-driven plans and solutions for navigating post-pandemic economic recovery efforts. 

And even if you're busy on June 15 and 16, by registering for this all-virtual event, you'll be able to access all of the sessions and virtual booths until December 31, 2021

This year’s all-virtual Economic Symposium provides the opportunity for attendees to network and connect with experts and colleagues from across the state around a wide variety of economic recovery topics that everyone is talking about including:

• Review of the data regarding Washington's employment conditions, economy, job market and workforce during the pandemic
• Washington state and regional economic forecasts
• The future of the office as workplace: remote and hybrid options
• (Re)training and upskilling workers for remote work, in-demand & emerging new jobs
• Economic recovery trends and strategies from Washington state agency leaders
• The future of workforce development: innovative approaches, programs and initiatives
• The future of economic development: innovative approaches, programs and initiatives
• Sustainability of the Unemployment Insurance system
• Workforce and Economic Resiliency Planning
• Status of industry sector recovery efforts: Who is thriving and how employers are addressing specific challenges brought about by the pandemic
• ESD’s Labor Market & Economic Analysis’ website of data and resources

Check out the current list of confirmed speakers.

Tuesday, June 15 Opening Welcome Remarks 

Cami Feek
Commissioner
Washington State
Employment Security Department
  

Governor Jay Inslee 
Washington State

Tuesday, June 15 Morning Keynote Speakers

Reviewing the past year as well as what’s on the post-pandemic economic horizon for Washington state. Get the “metrics that matter” from these regional and Washington state leaders.

Darlene Wilczynski
Vice President and Regional Executive
Seattle Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Steven Ross
Director, Labor Market
& Economic Analysis Division
Washington State
Employment Security Department

Steve Lerch
Executive Director
Washington State Economic and Revenue Forecast Council

Tuesday, June 15 Afternoon Keynote Session

Washington state recovery trends and strategies: Washington state workforce, economic and business leaders will share what is being done or planning to be done to get the post-pandemic economy back on track.

Cami Feek
Commissioner
Washington State
Employment Security Department

Chris Green
Assistant Director, Office of Economic Development and Competitiveness
Washington State Department of Commerce

Eleni Papadakis
Executive Director
Washington State Workforce Training & Education Coordinating Board

Eric Wolf
Deputy Policy Director
Washington State Workforce Training & Education Coordinating Board

Suzanne Dale Estey
Executive Director
Washington Economic Development Association (WEDA)

Erika Borg
Senior Advisor
Association of Washington Business Institute

Tuesday, June 15 Featured Session: Sustainability of the unemployment insurance system

All unemployment insurance (UI) systems across the country were overwhelmed during the pandemic. This session will address what we didn’t see coming, how we can do things differently so our UI systems are prepared for the next large-scale economic event/challenge.

Nick Demerice (Moderator)
Public Affairs Director
Washington State Employment Security Department

Michele Evermore
Senior Policy Advisor for Unemployment Insurance - Employment and Training Administration
U.S. Department of Labor

Scott Sanders
President and CEO
National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA)

Dan Zeitlin
Director, Employment System Policy and Integrity Division
Washington State Employment Security Department

Wednesday, June 16 Morning Keynote Session

Chief Economists Panel: Insights and data on the national conversation about return to the office and the future of work post COVID

Moderator: Justine Hastings
Vice President
People eXperience and Technology (PXT)
Central Science, Amazon Inc.

Christopher Glynn
Senior Managing Economist
Zillow Research

Jed Kolko
Chief Economist
Indeed

Aparna Mathur
Senior Economist
People eXperience and Technology (PXT)
Central Science, Amazon Inc.

Bledi Taska
Chief Economist
Burning Glass Technologies

Who should attend?

• Government and corporate economists
• Economic and workforce development professionals
• Government agencies and industry associations focused on business, and workforce and economic development
• Government and corporate HR leaders
• Government and corporate economists
• State, county and local public sector leaders and elected officials
• K-12 and higher ed leaders and career counselors
• Chamber of Commerce representatives from across the state
• Employers - corporate to small business
• Business media

How a virtual event works

• The “live” event will take place June 15 and June 16 – You can choose which sessions to watch or virtual booths to visit – but you don’t need to just sit in front of your computer all day. The main things you will only be able to do during the live event are:
  • interact with presenters through Q&A
  • “chat” with virtual booth staff
  • network during breakfast or lunch times at virtual tables focused on specific topics
• All of the Symposium content will be available until December 31, 2021 – this is a big benefit over an in-person event. You won’t have to choose which concurrent session to attend. Instead you will be able to attend ALL sessions if you want to!
• Dress code – None!