Winning Workforce Strategies Panelists

Lynette Rogers is president of the New Hampshire Home Builders Association. As part of her duties, Lynette has been working to develop a workforce pipeline by partnering with New Hampshire high schools to address an industry shortage of workers. Just last month, the New Hampshire Home Builders Association partnered with Pinkerton Academy to connect career and technical education students with potential employers. As the owner of Homescapes of New England, an exterior remodeling business, Lynette sees first-hand how a shortage of skilled workers threatens to halt growth in the homebuilding market. She also sees the building industry as a catalyst for creating community and is passionate about its role in education, quality building practices and giving back.

With over 25 years of manufacturing experience, Butch is currently leading the staffing and employee development effort for New Hampshire electronic systems operations to meet the challenging needs of its customers. Key to the success of the staffing challenge is the relationships Butch has fostered with many of the local high schools, community colleges and universities. BAE Systems' Electronic Systems, which is headquartered in Nashua, N.H., produces commercial and defense electronics for flight and engine control, electronic warfare, surveillance, communications, geospatial intelligence, and power and energy management. With several facilities in Nashua, Hudson, and Merrimack, New Hampshire, the sector employs more than 5,400 people.

Debra Mattson, MSB, M.S.Ed., is the director of the Great Bay Community College’s Advanced Technology and Academic Center in Rochester. With over 20 years of experience in higher education, curriculum development and program evaluation, Debra’s passion is using her expertise to facilitate projects with economic development impact. Prior to coming to New Hampshire, Debra taught both credit bearing and noncredit customized courses at several community colleges in Maine and served as the director of the Maine Advanced Technology Center. In October 2012 Debra was hired to develop curriculum and establish the Advanced Materials Manufacturing Program for Great Bay Community College.

Sara Colson is the director of Workforce Accelerator 2025, a joint initiative of the Business and Industry Association of New Hampshire and NH Charitable Foundation that aims to introduce 84,000 employees with postsecondary credentials into the labor market by 2025, to meet the projected demands of the New Hampshire economy. Sara’s background makes her a natural candidate to better unite businesses and educators. Starting out as a high school math teacher, Sarah later formed her own personal concierge business before serving as executive director of the Lake Sunapee Region Chamber of Commerce.