Mapping Bright Futures for New Hampshire

CONCORD, NH — The New Hampshire Department of Education on Wednesday launched a new dashboard that uses GIS mapping to identify locally available high-wage, high-demand occupations throughout every region of the state, as well as its Career and Technical Education programming associated with those occupations.

The new dashboard, Mapping Bright Futures for New Hampshire, will enable workforce representatives to use the map to identify opportunities to strengthen alignment between CTE programs and high-wage, high-demand professions in New Hampshire.

“GIS mapping is a powerful tool allowing employers, families and educators to see the range of education and employment opportunities throughout the Granite State,” said Jeff Beard, State Director for Career and Technical Education. “Viewing such opportunities gives important information to decision makers and enables young people to maximize their potential to enter into quality, in-demand work by becoming aware of the full spectrum of education and employment experiences available to them.”

Frank Edelblut, education commissioner, provided a demonstration of the Mapping Bright Futures for New Hampshire dashboard on Wednesday to members of the Business & Industry Association – New Hampshire’s statewide chamber of commerce.

“This new GIS tool visually connects education and workforce data, which is designed to spotlight the alignment of career clusters, career pathways and occupations so that both businesses and students can clearly understand labor market needs,” said Edelblut.

Users may select a county in New Hampshire to view the top 10 high-wage, high-demand occupations by job availability. For instance, in Hillsborough County, the top occupation is currently registered nurses – a profession that has 3,740 jobs available in the county, a starting salary of $56,300 and a median salary of $80,800. Users may also view the CTE programing available in that region and the different pathways to meet nursing requirements.