John Hoops
Vice President
hoops@futureworksweb.com

John Hoops, Ph.D, Vice President has extensive background in the design and delivery of workforce development services, design of technical education in the field of manufacturing technologies and processes, and program design and implementation in postsecondary education for populations of working adults. Hoops has held leadership positions in private organizations and in state government relating to the development and implementation of policy and programs in workforce development and relationships to economic development. His main interest is in the strategic alignment of constituencies to define and carry out effective strategies, develop resources, and implement programs in educational services and workforce development.

Recently, Hoops was involved in a five year engagement in strategic planning and new programs development for a major US community college system. This has focused on aligning the college's educational missions with economic development trends and policy regionally and statewide; in this he has focused on post-secondary educational strategies to help adults gain occupational skills and credentials that are relevant to economic development. This involved leadership in designing sector-based educational programming, creating accelerated education designs for working adults and strategic analysis of workforce development programs in post-secondary institutions. One program resulting from the effort, the College for Working Adults, is now being replicated in other states and was the subject of a recent (2009) national convening.

Through research grants, John has explored innovative ways post-secondary education can offer credentialing and new types of degree programs and ways in which community colleges can organize services to address the needs of adult and lower-income students. Hoops is also a member of the technical assistance and program support team for the National Fund for Workforce Solutions. He advises collaboratives of public and private funders that are developing innovative partnerships in the public and private sector to carry out education and training focused on lower income and lower skilled people.

Previously, Hoops was the Executive Director of the Western Massachusetts Chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association and of its educational arm, the Western Mass Precision Machining Institute. Hoops helped the Institute expand and deepen its curriculum, raise significant funding, and become an accredited educational organization.

Beginning in the 1980s, Hoops worked in Massachusetts's quasi-public organizations and state government. Hoops began working in Massachusetts's government as a policy analyst in the Executive Office of Labor. He helped secure legislative approval for the first manufacturing extension service in Massachusetts, the Center for Applied Technology, which he eventually directed. At the Center, Hoops helped develop and then led assistance programs to small and medium-sized manufacturing companies. These programs were funded by the US Department of Labor and by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Hoops developed and oversaw the Massachusetts Manufacturing Network Program that was funded by the Commonwealth and became one of the largest programs of its type in the country. As an outgrowth of this work, Hoops also led creation of the New England Suppliers Institute, which gathered participation of five New England states to support competitive and high quality suppliers in New England. Both the Network program and the Suppliers Institute received considerable national attention as innovative models.

As a consultant and member of advisory boards, Hoops has worked with the National Alliance of Business, National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Tooling and Machining Association, community colleges in New England, corporations, Regional Employment Boards and various public agencies concerned with curriculum design, workforce development and manufacturing support services.