An organized approach to the assessment of the present and anticipated training needs of local business and industry is presented for two-year colleges with an occupational education orientation. The manual first presents a rationale for and a definition of employer needs assessments. Next the requirements for raw and relative data are discussed, as are the kinds of information that can be obtained from representatives from business and industry, community leaders, students and alumni, and faculty and staff. The manual then considers the planning and implementation of employer needs assessments in terms of: (1) determination of the specific purposes of the research project, e.g., identification of the training needs of local employers, of the employment trends in the area, and of the occupational skill level to be attained by graduates; (2) the steps of an employer needs assessment; (3) methodological practices that assure that those surveyed are representative of the whole employer population; (4) random sampling and stratification of samples; (5) data-gathering instruments and the usefulness of mailed questionnaires and structured and unstructured questions; (6) selection and training of interviewers; and (7) quantification and organization of data. The text includes sample structured questions, a bibliography, and an Occupational Inventory Checklist from the Tri-County Technical College Assessment Project. (JP)