Workforce Development Systems Creating Solutions Better Skills Better Jobs Better Businesses

1
Workforce Development Systems Creating
Solutions?Better Skills ? Better Jobs Better
Businesses

• Presentation to Oregon Economic Development
  Association Conference
• By
• The Oregon Workforce Partnership
• __________________
• October 6, 2008

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Who is the Oregon Workforce Partnership

• Todays Presenters
• Agnes Balassa
• Enterprise for Education Employment ?
  Mid-Willamette Valley
• Jim Fong
• Rogue Valley Workforce Development Council /
  The Job Council ? Jackson Josephine
  County
• Kris Latimer
• The Oregon Consortium Oregon Workforce Alliance
  ? 24 Rural Counties

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Workshop Session Goals

• Inform You
• Who we are, where were at, where were going
• New Leadership, Innovation, Results,
  Accountability
• Fulfilling our role as key partners in economic
  development
• Reality Check Dialogue
• Your perceptions of us, our system partners
• How are local partnerships working?
• What can we do together to take more effective
  action?
• Regionally Enhancing partnerships?
• State-level Legislative advocacy funding
  systems alignment?

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What is Oregon Workforce Partnership (OWP)?

• The Statewide Association of Oregons Local
  Workforce Investment Boards
• Leveraging local workforce development
  initiatives for statewide benefit
• Building support for the development of a more
  highly skilled workforce for a better economy

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Who is the Oregon Workforce Partnership

• Balance of Members
• Andrew McGough
• Worksystems, Inc. ? Portland Metro, Multnomah
  Washington Counties
• Chuck Forster
• Lane Workforce Partnership ? Lane County
• Pat Grose
• Workforce Investment Council of Clackamas County
• Steve Bekofsky
• Region 4 Workforce Investment Board ?
  Linn- Benton Counties

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What is Workforce Development?

• Coordinating the development and delivery of a
  skilled workforce to achieve business
  competitiveness and individual prosperity
• By organizing business, education and government
  policies, programs and resources

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What are Local Workforce Investment Boards?

• Public private partnerships to develop a more
  highly skilled workforce
• Conveners to facilitate comprehensive workforce
  solutions
• By bringing the right people to the table local
  business, education/training, economic
  development, labor, community and government
  partners
• The local voice to assure that workforce
  development meets community needs
• Investors of over 50 million for workforce
  development resources

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Our Promise to Oregon

• A more highly skilled workforce built through
  partnership
• Greater alignment of the workforce development
  system
• Accountability for results driven by the needs of
  business and the economy
• Strategic investments to increase Oregons
  economic competitiveness
• Evaluation to build upon what works

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A Focus on Skills

• The workforce gap is a skills gap
• 50 of all jobs require middle skills
• More than what most HS students graduate with
• Less than a four year degree
• Lines up with what Economic Development has said
  for years
• Includes everything from manufacturing to air
  traffic controllers, to healthcare, to public
  safety, to truck drivers, to clerical

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Promising Practices

• Southern Oregons PowerUp Initiative
• Mid-Willamette Valley
• Career Readiness Certification Pilot
• WIRED
• State of the Workforce Report
• Social Networking Rural Oregons Answer to
  Prosperity?

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Promising Practices

• Southern Oregons PowerUp Initiative
• Mid-Willamette Valley
• Career Readiness Certification Pilot
• WIRED
• State of the Workforce Report
• Social Networking Rural Oregons Answer to
  Prosperity?

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Southern Oregons PowerUp Initiative

• Recognized by OEDA in 2007 for Outstanding
  Collaborative Partnership
• Economic workforce development partners working
  together to build the skills of workers build
  the capacities of our business
• Expanding the focus of workforce system to the
  entire labor market - not just unemployed,
  underemployed or emerging workers
• Balancing real-time, demand-driven needs of
  business with supply-side development needs of
  workers

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Southern Oregons PowerUp Initiative

• 1. Targeted Job Recruitment
• For Traded Sector and other businesses with jobs
  that have career pathways to higher wages
• Combined / coordinated outreach to businesses
• One-stop / primary contact business
  representative who coordinates workforce and
  training needs
• Active outreach marketing to entire labor
  market
• Working with businesses trainers (Rogue
  Community College, Southern Oregon University,
  OIT) to map out build skills / career pathways

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Southern Oregons PowerUp Initiative

• 2. PowerUp Academy
• A new initiative - launching November 2008
• Aggregating business training needs
• Fast-track productivity training business is
  demanding
• In-classroom courses 2 4 hour modules that
  deliver
• On-demand downloads 24/7 to meet everyones
  schedule
• On-site workshops hands-on experience in real
  business settings
• Social learning network peer-to-peer
  reinforcement collaborative learning
• Web 2.0 Social Networking advanced
  self-promotion and job-hunting skills

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Southern Oregons PowerUp Initiative

• 2. PowerUp Academy - continued
• Schedules that make sense
• On-line reservations course delivery system to
  make it easy
• Online applications for scholarship vouchers that
  make it practical
• Blending public private-sector training dollars
  - using public Employer Workforce Training Funds
  to incent
• Productivity-focused course design content
• Lean
• Computer Skills
• Customer Service
• Safety / Compliance

• Interpersonal Skills
• Management / Supervisory
• Executive Development

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Southern Oregons PowerUp Initiative

• 3. PowerUp K-16
• Creating a Seamless K-16 system
• Vision - High School students graduating with
• Post-secondary training/education skills
  certificates/degrees
• Direct connections/experience to regional
  businesses that meet their high school
  career-related learning requirements
• College Promise
• A proposed statewide program that would pay for
  two years of college for high school graduates
  with qualifying grades
• Spur economic development through better-educated
  workers
• Costs 127 million annually fund via bonds
• Partners
• School Districts, Rogue Community College,
  Southern Oregon University, Southern Oregon ESD,
  SOREDI, The Job Council , Chambers of Commerce,
  Commission on Children Families, Local Elected
  Officials, RVCOG, United Way

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Promising Practices

• Southern Oregons PowerUp Initiative
• Mid-Willamette Valley
• Career Readiness Certification Pilot
• WIRED
• State of the Workforce Report
• Social Networking Rural Oregons Answer to
  Prosperity?

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Mid-Willamette Valley

• Career Readiness Certification Pilot
• Clarifies basic skills expectations related to
  hundreds of job profiles across a variety of
  industries
• Deployed through WorkSource Oregon first
• Better prepares and screens applicants
• Will be paired with a soft skills assessment
• First test with Cascade Steel was a huge success

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Mid-Willamette Valley

• WIRED
• Nine county approach to talent development for
  advanced manufacturing
• Creating a common manufacturing core, industry
  expertise, and marketing
• Breaking down jurisdictional boundaries
• Working with Mfg 21 other trade associations

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Mid-Willamette Valley

• State of the Workforce Report
• First annual Mid-Valley effort to provide quality
  data on local workforce to economic development,
  business, education and policy makers
• Includes key findings and recommendations
• Based on a model developed in Lane County

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Promising Practices

• Southern Oregons PowerUp Initiative
• Mid-Willamette Valley
• Career Readiness Certification Pilot
• WIRED
• State of the Workforce Report
• Social Networking Rural Oregons Answer to
  Prosperity?

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Social Networking Rural Oregons Answer to
Prosperity?

• Just how do we Help Rural Oregon Work by
  skilling up rural citizens, business and industry
  to compete in the global economy?
• Blueprint for deployment of open-source style
  network that will drive rural economic
  development.

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Nothing is the Same Yet Everything is the Same

• Changing
• Global Economy
• Extent of Inter-connection and Inter-dependence
• Population and Demographics
• Declining Prosperity

• Unchanged
• Remote Communities
• Lack of Diversity in Economic Structure
• Lack of supports for entrepreneurial development

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We Will

• Increase Skills
• Support Networks Services for Entrepreneurs
• Increased Exposure to Non-Traditional Networks
  (financial, assistance, guidance, etc.)
• Education Regarding Todays Economy
• Conversations that Result in Action to Assure a
  Real Rural Future
• Healthcare, Telecommunications, Water, Education,
  and Workforce Economic Development

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What Well Get in Return

• Innovative Businesses
• Dynamic Clusters (not forced)
• Healthy Creative People
• Healthy Creative Places

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Reality Check Dialogue

• Your perceptions of us, our system partners
• How are local partnerships working?
• What can we do together to take more effective
  action?
• Regionally Enhancing partnerships?
• State-level Legislative advocacy funding
  systems alignment?

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Why us?

• New Leadership
• A proven track record supporting business
  clusters Bioscience, Manufacturing, Software,
  etc.
• Recent innovations to increase efficiency and
  effective skill development without increasing
  costs.
• Ability to work across complex programmatic and
  jurisdictional boundaries

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Our request

• Utilize us to align investments in skills
  development rather than creating alternative
  redundant structures
• Partner with us to build tomorrows workforce
• We are your solution

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Contact Information

• Oregon Workforce Partnership
• www.oregonwfpartnership.org