Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate HELP Committee on Employment and Workplace Safety, discusses the re-authorization of the Workforce Investment Act.
Click to the Worksystems blog to watch.
2010 national workforce campaign: "USA is Working!"
by Tricia Ryan
The National Association of Workforce Boards has partnered with Full Capacity Marketing and CBS News Community Partnerships to launch a national workforce campaign.
With the current recession and ongoing unemployment, workforce
development is on everyone's mind. This campaign provides an ideal
platform for us to tell the story of how our system positively impacts
the lives of so many across the country.
The campaign - USA is
Working! - will leverage the media interest in the economy,
unemployment, skill development and use of ARRA funding in an effort to
garner support for the public workforce system. USA is Working! will
focus on stories that describe the strategic focus of WIBs and the
impact of the 2,800 One Stops that served 30 million people last year.
A campaign website (http://www.usaisworking) will be launched in a few months that will have several key components:
1.
CBS will produce a 60 second vignette explaining the role and value of
WIBs and the video will be made available for us all to use.
2.
The website will serve as a clearinghouse for success stories from
around the country to demonstrate the impact of our system and help
influence national policy.
3. The site will house podcast interviews from Board Chairs from around the country.
4.
The website will also contain an intranet accessible to WIBs with a
media tool kit and online technical assistance to help insure
consistent messaging and increase expertise in storytelling.
5. Links will be provided for job seekers/business/youth to local workforce resources including WIBs and One Stops.
6. A sponsorship section - not much detail available on this yet.
This promises to be a great campaign and Worksystems will
definitely be participating. I encourage all of you to join in as well.
Stay tuned for more information from NAWB on this effort!
Reposted with permission from Worksystems blog
Greetings from NAWB 2010!
by Tricia Ryan
According to conference organizers, this is the first time in a while that all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and Guam have all been here together. The
feeling this year is one of real camaraderie and mutual respect for the
work that we do. After all, we're all fighting the same fight to help
people get through this awful economy in countless local communities
across the country.
Jane
Oates , Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, US Department
of Labor, was an inspiring choice to kick off the conference. We've
been hearing for some time that the Workforce Investment Act
will be reauthorized but she spoke with such optimism that it left the
impression that it may be imminent. She stated that it will include a
re-defining of the role of local and state boards because 
the language
was "too vague" the first time around and that the role of business and
economic development needs to be enhanced.
I really loved her challenge to the private sector members of workforce investment boards in the audience. She told them (in no uncertain terms) that they MUST use the system. Not doing so was, in her words, akin to a restaurant owner not eating the food. Businesses should be the biggest spokespeople we have and their use - or non use - of the system speaks volumes.
Other things to look for
in the coming months include a re-invigoration of the Registered
Apprenticeship Program, new opportunities for on-the-job training, a
new community of practice for Rapid Response, and bringing Job Corps
back to ETA with a real commitment to integrating YouthBuild and WIA Youth programs into the one stop system.
One last heads up: DOL's 2010-2016 Strategic Plan is currently under development and there will be ample opportunities for us to get involved.
More posts soon!
Reposted with permission from the Worksystems blog
Blogging the 2010 NAWB Forum
The annual forum of the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) has hit the ground running! Or so I hear - I'm not in DC this week, but I'm following it online. My favorite tweet from the forum so far:
@NNSP: Jane Oates on Workforce Innovation Fund in budget: "We're going to be innovative with or without WIA reauthorization." #NAWB
Go Jane!
If you prefer to get your news the old-fashioned way - via blog - I have good news. Once again, I'm partnering with Tricia Ryan of Worksystems Inc. in Oregon to bring you coverage of the conference. Tricia will be blogging the conference at the Worksystems blog, and I'll be republishing her posts here on Workforce Developments. Let me introduce Tricia:
Tricia
Ryan is the Chief Operating Officer of Worksystems, a nonprofit
organization working to build a comprehensive workforce development
system that supports individual prosperity and business competitiveness
in the City of Portland, Multnomah and Washington counties. She has 15
years experience in economic development and workforce development in
the States of Oregon and Michigan.
You can also follow Tricia and Worksystems on Twitter @worksystems.
If you're at the NAWB Forum and want to share what you're hearing and learning, add your comments below or drop me a line. If you're tweeting from the conference, add a comment below with a link and be sure to use the hashtag #NAWB so the rest of us can follow you.
Best of Workforce Developments
Search this site
Support your favorite blog! Get cool stuff!
Unemployment: News and Links
- Unemployment benefits extension passes
November 21, 2008: President Bush signs unemployment extension into law. Click below to find the link to your state's unemployment agency, and learn how to access benefits. - New England
- Mid-Atlantic
- Southeast
- Central
- Midwest
- West
Other Pages
get your job site
at simplyhired.com
Recent Comments