Workforce Innovations: Sessions by Schedule

(Pre-Conference) Power to the People: Solution Sharing and Problem Solving in the Energy Sector

State Energy Consortiums will convene to discuss team activities, explore issues that have arisen since their formation, and lessons learned with attendees interested in forming their own state consortium. This session will focus on the latest trends, workforce challenges, and workforce solutions in the energy sector. Examples of promising practices that will be shared include career awareness and outreach, policy and education, untapped pools of labor, and funding strategies.

(Pre-Conference) MEP's Role in Talent Development: Linking To and Leveraging Partners with Postsecondary Institutions, Public Workforce System, and WIRED Regions

This session will focus on manufacturing trends, including workforce implications and solutions. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is a national network focused on manufacturing competitiveness. Their 1,600 field experts and partners provide resources and services on a variety of workforce issues. Come and learn more about how MEP is growing the labor supply pipeline and maximizing the potential of manufacturers with innovative solutions.

(Super Session) Driving Transformation: Strategic Integration Throughout the Workforce Investment System

In many regions, vertical integration — the alignment and collaboration between all workforce system entities in a state — is helping the workforce system adapt to changing economies. "Driving Transformation" is a two year ETA initiative to support vertical integration. Come learn more about the Driving Transformation process and get a preview of workshops throughout the conference that can help you and your colleagues ensure a dynamic pipeline of talent to fuel regional growth.

Across Boundaries: Models for Regional Workforce Collaboration
 
Workforce investment boards (WIB) often run programs and workforce centers within a defined jurisdiction that is a part of a much broader regional economy. Hesitant to encroach upon one another’s territory yet cognizant of regional economic realities, WIBs are developing creative strategies to leverage knowledge, networking, and resources across jurisdictional boundaries while maintaining and strengthening their individual identities. This session will demonstrate several approaches to regional multi-WIB collaboration.

Indiana Partnerships: Transforming Public Policy in Education, Workforce and Economic Development

The public workforce system, community colleges, employers, and economic development agencies all recognize the need to improve the education levels of the current workforce. Featuring CBJT grantee Ivy Tech Community College and several of its partners, this session will illustrate how, by using regional evaluations, assessments, and asset mapping, this strategic partnership identified the education and skill levels in different regions of the state and pinpointed those regions requiring more immediate intervention.

The Art of Partnering: Achieving Common Goals Through Large-Scale Collaborations

In this dynamic, interactive session, participants will learn the steps required for constructing effective and long-lasting partnerships: developing a collective vision with partners; moving from written agreements to on-the-ground action; and planning for long-term sustainability. The Chemeketa Community College will share “Five Cs” of partnership building — Context, Communication, Clarity, Credibility, and Complexity — which they implemented to build a multi-college/multi-sector healthcare demonstration project that includes 126 education, employer, WIA, and community partners across Oregon.

Using Metrics to Drive Regional Talent Development

In order to be effective, regional workforce and economic development efforts must be focused on measurable results and be informed and guided by real data and information. The Bio-1 WIRED region in central New Jersey has developed a state-of-the-art metrics system that uses a balanced-scorecard approach to guide program design and implementation. Learn about the region’s metrics system and engage in a discussion on how metrics systems can be used to inform talent strategies.

Effectively Serving One-Stop Customers with Mental Health-Related Disabilities

This dynamic session will strengthen participants’ knowledge and skills related to serving youth and adults with mental health needs within One-Stop Career Centers. In order to effectively assist these customers, attendees will learn effective strategies for connecting them to employment possibilities, become more familiar with the range of available resources, and gain a greater understanding of mental health issues within the workplace.

Making Healthcare Work!

Although Rhode Island is the smallest state in the union, it has one of the largest healthcare workforce shortages in the nation. Thanks to support from the Governor’s Workforce Board-Rhode Island (GWB-RI), this is changing. Development of an innovative, strategic partnership between healthcare employers, postsecondary education, state agencies and the GWB-RI ensures a brighter future. Learn how Rhode Island is building its healthcare talent pipeline.

Shifting Gears: Reorganizing Adult Education to Create Career Pathways for Today's Workforce

Nearly two-thirds of all new jobs projected to be created in the next decade will require high levels of technical and problem-solving skills. Too many workers lack the skills and credentials to fill those jobs. This workshop will highlight state policy solutions to address this mismatch. The Workforce Strategy Center will present national models; the Joyce Foundation will describe their Shifting Gears Initiative; and the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development will share the Wisconsin model.

Stealth Isn't for Fighter Jets - The Sky's the Limit When Collaboration Replaces Competition

Is it possible to convene three competitive aerospace manufacturing companies for the purpose of developing shared programs and deepening the partnership over time? For the Dallas/Fort Worth Aerospace Cluster it is. Learn how key staff from Bell, Lockheed and Vought Aircraft Industries left their competitive cloaks at the door and developed two cutting-edge training programs to increase the pipeline of qualified workers for the aerospace manufacturing industry facilitated by the local Workforce Investment board.

Tales from a Petri Dish: Strategies for Cultivating Bioscience Talent in your Region
 
This session will focus on building regional talent in the bioscience sector through the continuum of education from K-12, Post-Secondary, and Higher Education. Strategies presented will focus on the development of regional expertise in bioscience through tailored education and training, and the connection of academics to employer needs.

The Middle Apprenticeship Project: A Career Development Opportunity for At-Risk Youth

This session will discuss the experience and learnings from the Bayless Middle Apprenticeship Project (MAP), a joint effort of industry, vocational educators, a labor-management apprenticeship-training program and a community college targeting at-risk youth. MAP combines apprentice-level technical training with contextualized classroom learnings and leads to living wage employment in the trades as well as concurrent enrollment in an articulated College AAS program. The session will detail program design, discuss implementation, and highlight student and industry outcomes.

The Power of Partnerships: Driving Regional Economic Growth
 
The nature of business is changing and we must ask ourselves, “Are we changing with it?” As resources continue to dwindle, more and more partners are relying on one another to build meaningful relationships that leverage each other's strengths. Join Wes Jurey, Chairman of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce, for a roundtable discussion and question and answer session on how to effectively form strategic partnerships with regional businesses.

Vision East: The WIRED Concept Without the Dollars

A North Carolina mega-region comprised of 8 WIBS and 42 counties have crossed political and regional boundaries to address industry workforce challenges. As our economy becomes increasingly global and as technology grows more complex, these WIBs are developing a capable workforce to help business compete in the new economy. The beauty: Doing so without the dollars!! Hear the valuable lessons learned from this partnership, and apply them to your own regional collaborations.

Beyond Transportation: TDL is Driving Transformation

This session will focus on building regional talent in the Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics (TDL) industry. This session will feature an overview of career paths within TDL as well as case studies from WIRED regions that have engaged industry, government, and education partnerships to support the growth of TDL regionally and globally.

Career Prescriptions for Success (CAPS): An Employer-Driven Apprenticeship Model

This workshop will feature the apprenticeship model that CVS/pharmacy developed with a HGJTI grant. Career Prescriptions for Success (CAPS addresses a projected industry shortfall in Pharmacy Technicians and Pharmacists in the Detroit market and four replication sites. Presenters will provide lessons learned and resources to create a training and apprenticeship program for unemployed and underemployed populations in collaboration with the local workforce system, faith-based and community organizations, community colleges, and institutions of higher education.

Cultivating More than Just Land: Maximizing the Talent Pool of Youth in Rural America

The Shared Youth Vision Team of Minnesota will highlight their efforts to provide youth in rural areas with career development strategies and comprehensive services. Learn how Project C3: Connecting Youth to Communities and Careers and a regional career information Web site has successfully assisted youth in rural areas to connect with training, employment, and multiple education pathways.

Job Corps: Integrating a Standards-Based Approach into Career Technical Education for America's At-Promise Youth

Learn about the steps taken to implement a standards-based education and training system as part of Job Corps’ New Vision, including: the practical application of applied-academic standards that supports career pathways into high-growth, high-demand industries and key academic concepts that lead to industry-recognized certifications and career success. Presenters will also highlight evidence-based instructional strategies that best support the Job Corps student.

Meeting the Needs of Montana's Workers and Employers

Explore Montana's approach to transforming the public workforce system to align with the WIRED framework of regional talent development. Hear how the state is applying a regional focus to its workforce services, meeting the workforce challenges of small businesses, and training incumbent workers for career advancement.

Partnering to Credential a Workforce and Move a State Toward Economic Prosperity

Tinker Air Force Base’s Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center employs over 12,000 civilians -- nearly half of whom are eligible for retirement. This session will discuss the partnership between the Tinker and Oklahoma’s educational institutions to provide credentialing (degrees, certificates, and training) services to meet the growing workforce needs for central Oklahoma’s largest employer. Learn how Tinker and Oklahoma’s colleges and technology centers collaborated to build career pathways benefiting the employee, the employer, and the state.

Planning for Sustainability: Lessons from Generation I WIRED Regions
 
A community can build on-going regional transformation into its plans and designs early on, and address sustainability throughout implementation. This session will highlight examples of how Generation I WIRED regions have developed sustainability plans for continued collaboration and transformation.

Talent Trumps All: Virtual Solutions to Talent Development in the All American Defense Corridor

Experience innovative, high tech solutions for regional workforce development. The All American Center for Workforce Innovation (AACWI) uses web-based and interactive 3D technologies to create a network of talent development solutions among the full range of workforce and economic development stakeholders across the Fort Bragg BRAC region. This presentation will demonstrate the AACWI’s virtual technologies and describe a collaborative program that is transforming the region’s economy.

The New Age of Recruitment: Attracting and Retaining Baby Boomers through Recruitment Strategy and Internet Tools

Learn why skills training is not lost on the older worker and how to find those Boomers interested in changing their career track through continued education and re-entry into the labor market. Support your employer customers by using special tools to attract this age demographic. By making it a part of their core business strategy, you are directly influencing their bottom line profit margin -- and your success.

(Research Showcase) Stop the Age Tsunami: Retaining Mature Healthcare Workers

How can we retain mature healthcare workers longer, thereby benefiting from their experience and addressing the healthcare worker shortage? Hear the valuable results of 20 focus groups, including structured conversations and exercises, conducted with retired and soon-to-retire healthcare workers (e.g., nurses and allied healthcare workers), across the country. This study was done through a collaboration with The Johns Hopkins Hospital, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and HCA; it was funded by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Business Services University: Building a Critical Staff Skill Set

Minnesota's Business Services University offers monthly courses for the state’s Business Services Specialists and Business Services and Job Service Managers. Forged in partnership with four post-secondary institutions, the goal of the University is to develop staff capacity in assessing, brokering and providing solutions to the complex issues faced by today’s businesses and industries.

Community Foundations: Investors and Collaborators in Talent Development
 
There are over 700 community foundations in the United States. In 2006, they invested approximately $3.6 billion to improving the quality of life in regions across the nation. The dedication of community foundations to the socioeconomic well-being of their community makes them natural partners for regional talent development. Learn how you can engage community foundations in educating and preparing your region’s workforce.

Getting Ahead of the Curve: Regional Innovation Grants

In the 21st century, regions are the center of economic action. Growing and managing regional economies is a challenging task. Regional Innovation Grants (RIGs) assist regional economies with developing strategic and transformative plans to counteract the effects of economic shock and better manage workforce transition. This workshop provides an overview of RIGs and engages participants in a discussion on how to leverage this opportunity to increase their success in the global market.

Grants.gov: Grantformation Accomplished

The public workforce system and strategic partners are continually looking for opportunities to leverage additional resources in order to meet the needs of workers and employers. This session will provide a guided, hands-on tour of Grants.gov, a central repository for information on all types of federal grants. Experience first-hand the wealth of "grantformation" including available resources as well as how to identify find and apply for grant opportunities.

Solving the Workforce Development Puzzle: High Growth and Community-Based Workforce Solutions
 
Are you trying to solve the workforce development puzzle? Learn how High Growth and Community-Based workforce solutions are the pieces you need for developing a skilled workforce. Prepare yourself for a lively and engaging session as we share brand new solutions such as curricula, career awareness and outreach materials, industry training modules, and more!

The New Stem Formula: STEM + Jobs = Success

In an increasingly global environment is the adequate supply of science, the key to U.S. economic growth is technology, engineering, and math (STEM) workers capable of translating knowledge and skills into new processes, products, and services. This session will highlight how two states are addressing the growing need for a STEM workforce through statewide initiatives that include instituting professional development for STEM educators and defining performance indicators to achieve a statewide STEM agenda.

Turning Acorns into Oak Trees: Decoding Stakeholder Needs and Growing Financial Resources for Workforce Training
 
This session will focus on the experience of a small community college in northeastern Wyoming which used a $2 Million Community Based Job Training Grant to increase workforce training enrollments by over 50% in the first year and 100% the second. Our success in focusing intense effort on decoding stakeholder training needs has led to additional public and private investment of over $60 Million to build additional training capacity since the grant was awarded in 2005.

Understanding Trends in Learning Through Data

As business leaders in the private sector continue to understand the value of training, learning leaders are increasingly able to demonstrate success in several areas: increased efficiency and effectiveness of learning; alignment between learning and other organizational activities; and the sustainability of the learning function. Data in this presentation, drawn from several research studies by ASTD, will identify trends in workforce development and help participants benchmark learning investments and practices against leading organizations.

(Research Showcase) Innovations in Program Evaluation: Non-Experimental Methods

This session will explore new cutting edge evaluation methodologies that use administrative data to derive employment and earnings impacts. For example, non-experimental evaluations using administrative data present a viable, low cost alternative to more expensive random assignment evaluations. Researchers conducting non-experimental impact evaluations of the President's High Growth Job Training Initiative, Veteran's Priority of Service, and Workforce Investment Act programs will discuss the latest methodologies and the implications for evaluation of workforce development programs.

Accelerating Education: Building High-Performance Partnerships
 
Shift your organization into high gear by attending this session on building an agile workforce by partnering with your local academic institutions. Learn how BJC HealthCare, a not-for-profit health system, has put the "rubber to the road" by creating a rich partnership program offering employees the opportunity to begin or extend their academic career, from a high school to a master’s diploma with all points in between.

Aligning NSF Advanced Technology Center Programs with the Workforce System

The National Science Foundation funds more than 35 Advanced Technology Education Centers throughout the U.S. to support advanced technology industries with technical education programs and train current and future workforces. This session will provide worksystem representatives with a working knowledge of the Centers and highlight examples of how they can link their efforts to those Centers.

Anticipating Economic Shocks: Using Traditional Tool in New Ways

Regional partnerships must anticipate business growth and contraction cycles, and react quickly enough to take advantage of opportunities a changing economy will present. Learn how to use traditional workforce intelligence in new ways, such as using unemployment insurance administrative data to get ahead of the curve. Also hear about the Cobb Talent Inventory, a business engagement model that obtains business expansion and contraction, worker benefits, and worker skill needs to inform talent development.

Expanding the Talent Development Pool through Registered Apprenticeship

This innovative session explores two approaches to preparing at-risk youth for apprenticeship opportunities in the construction industry, thereby diversifying the talent pool for high wage, high demand careers. This session will also explore how WIA-funds can be used to ease the transition to gainful employment.

Facebook, MySpace, WIRED: A Social Network Analysis of WIRED Regions

New social networks formed by many Generation I WIRED regions are unprecedented, spanning geographical barriers, professional boundaries, and organizational differences. Social network analysis helps us understand such concepts as: communication lines and patterns across the network; the evolution of social networks; and how networking help transform local Workforce Investment Boards.

Ford Motor Company Fund's Next Generation Learning Communities

Ford Motor Company Fund's Next Generation Learning Communities (NGLCs) align education and workforce and economic development to prepare students and young adults for the needs of emerging economies. NGLC focuses on the development of successful and sustainable career academies, one of the most thriving high school redesign models. The Ford Fund has identified 12 best practices that guide regional collaboration between education, workforce and economic development, employers, and key community leaders and institutions.

Heroes in the Civilian Workforce

Top employers such as GE, BNSF, Home Depot, Starbucks, and Cisco work together with regional partners to address acute skills needs by tapping into the talent of our returning military personnel. Their considerations include transition counseling, work/family issues, pay differentials, career counseling in targeted industries, assessments. Programs such as Operation Home Front and Yellow Ribbon will also be highlighted.

The Role of the Public Research University in Engaging Regions for Economic and Talent Development

In a global, knowledge-based economy, public research universities hold tremendous potential for supporting regional economic and workforce development efforts. This presentation will outline roles and methods in which universities engage in talent development — along with their workforce, education, business, and economic development partners — to support regional economic growth. It will provide “on-the-ground” examples of successful partnerships, their objectives, and the engagement principles that helped them succeed.

Bold Transformation: Workforce System Structure and Governance

In the business of talent development, workforce system structure and governance impact strategy and service delivery. In this session, we will explore new ways of structuring relationships and decision-making processes with the goal of delivering high-impact talent development strategies and services. We will share promising practices, discuss lessons learned, and consider the applicability of these approaches in other states and regions. We will emphasize strategies you can support yourself in the next year or two.

Outside Insights: Strengthening Strategic Planning and Partnerships through Peer-to-Peer Learning

Stepping outside your own workforce area provides new perspectives and creativity. This interactive session will invite participants to imagine transformation and opportunities for peer learning. The panel will discuss insights from the National Business Learning Partnership, focusing on strategic planning and regional collaboration.

Prisoner Reentry Training: What Resources Are Available for My Staff?
 
We continually look for various types of trainings that lead to employment for ex-offenders. Yet, do we know what training is available for our own staff so that they can more effectively and efficiently assist these clients? Come learn about the free reentry workforce development training for staff developed by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, National Institute of Corrections, and the Office of Pretrial & Probation Services, members of the U.S. Federal Partnership.

Regional Strategies to Address Talent Pipeline Needs of the Energy Industry

Regional partnerships have been formed in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia to meet the demand for a skilled workforce in the energy industry, including traditional and clean energy sectors. The session will highlight initiatives undertaken to identify skills gaps in the energy industry to increase the awareness of employment and career ladder opportunities, and to leverage resources to create training programs that meet industry needs.

Rural is the New Urban: The Role of Entrepreneurship in Rural Economic Development

For rural regions across the country, entrepreneurship is a critical component to a robust economic development strategy. By developing entrepreneurial spirit and talent across the education continuum, public workforce system, and business community, rural communities can retain talent in the region to help grow their existing businesses and create new enterprises.

Tapping Unemployed Street Dwellers to Become Valued Wage Earners

Workforce Investment Boards (WIB) can serve homeless job seekers. In Houston, Texas, the WIB recognized that the street homeless population was not only a community concern for downtown businesses, but that homeless people represent a potential labor asset to regional employers. Their solution was a strategy to leverage workforce development and homeless assistance services to meet employer needs.

Telling the Workforce Story: New Tools for High Impact Engagement

Communication and engagement are more important to successful transformation initiatives than ever. However, turning the fire hose of information into a meaningful and engaging narrative about your community’s workforce can be a daunting challenge. Learn about hidden secrets in your community and on online that will enable you to take your story to the streets, build new alliances, and tap hard-to reach stakeholder groups in the process.

The Integrated RIG Planning Process: Lessons From the First Regional Innovation Grant

Newton, Iowa and the Central Iowa region are a microcosm of the changes in the manufacturing industry. Learn how the region used workforce information intelligence and tools, along with carefully facilitated local intelligence, to form the region and lead a data-driven planning process focused on creating a different kind of economy. Understand the key aspect of "selling" regionalization in an environment that is intensely political and local in its perspective.

1:30 PM - 03:00 PM

Lagniappe Session: Accelerating Collaborations with Strategic Doing (Ed Morrison)

Successful workforce development strategies require innovation, collaboration and alignment. But how do you do that? Join your colleagues and Ed Morrison, a well-respected workforce practitioner, to learn how to build civic networks to engage partners in your region. Through practical disciplines of "strategic doing," you can develop the organizational habits you need to identify partners, pick transformative initiatives, and keep your activities on track after the conference.