Steve Donovan was retired for two days before he took on his new role as associate vice chancellor and executive director for Parkside Works, the partnership and workforce innovation office at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

Professional and continuing education, community and business engagement, as well as employer resources all fall under the umbrella of Parkside Works. The idea is that Parkside Works is a front door into the university, said Donovan, who most recently served as executive vice president at Community State Bank before his retirement.

Parkside Works launched in March last year, as a result of UW-Parkside restructuring its colleges and departments.

Parkside Works will soon operate out of more than 3,500 square feet of physical space on UW-Parkside’s campus.

“(I’m) really excited about the impact we can have for our students to be able to get connected and engaged with activities that get them prepared for the workforce, and then on the other side of it, for companies and organizations to be able to tap into the incredible talent we have here to help meet their workforce pipeline needs,” Donovan said.

The Parkside Works space will be housed inside UW-Parkside’s Solutions for Economic Growth Center, which is being renovated and modernized for using advanced technology. The updates are intended to support events and workshops, employer and community partner engagement, as well as hybrid and technology-enabled learning experiences.

Parkside Works hosted an open house at the SEG Center in early February. The SEG Center is expected to be ready for regular use in April.

Read more at the BizTimes.