Institutions of higher education prepare and develop students for the workforce, and in the coming decade, the challenge of workforce preparation will increase as the current workforce is retiring during a time of economic growth. Traditional higher education practice tasks faculty with developing appropriate curricula for students that will adequately prepare them for employment and leadership within an organization, but often this development lacks direct industry input into course content and design resulting in a gap between industry needs and graduate skills. This study addresses both current and perceived future educational and leadership needs of a workforce in an 11 county region in the north central United States. It explores potential strategies for mitigating the skills gap as it relates to organizational leadership skills, the evolving roles of faculty, and curriculum design and application, and develops a community alliance model for business, leadership, and education.