Employment and Training Administration - Workforce Professionals - State and Local Activities

Pennsylvania Industry Partnerships

An industry partnership is a multi-employer collaborative effort that brings together management, labor and public services around the common purpose of improving the competitiveness of a cluster of companies or organizations. Pennsylvania's statewide sector strategy of Industry Partnerships is targeted to sectors identified as the best candidates to grow and provide high skill and high wage jobs. This article also provides a link to a guide titled ``How to Build an Industry Partnership`` published by Workforce Learning Strategies.

Read more about these Partnerships on WWW.WORKFORCE3ONE.ORG.

New Jersey`s "Green Energy Academy"

New Jersey`s Green Energy Academy introduces high school freshmen at Bloomfield Tech to ``green`` career opportunities within the traditional trades. Builders, welders, electricians, architects and engineers will all need to understand the importance of energy efficiency and renewable energy in the future, and this program is creating student interest at a young age. Please visit the Academy`s profile on WWW.WORKFORCE3ONE.ORG.

Arizona State University Connects Businesses with Enthusiastic Workforce

Over 50 companies in the greater Phoenix community are realizing the benefits of a novel internship program offered by Arizona State University's Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at ASU/SkySong.

The program, Sun Devil Entrepreneurship Network (SDEN), connects Arizona's vibrant start-up community with the energy of entrepreneurially minded students and is available to students across all four of the university campuses - Tempe, West, Polytechnic and Downtown Phoenix.

The program is in its second year. It placed 58 students with local businesses in its inaugural year, currently counts 85 working students, and has its sights set on 150 placements by July of 2009.

``SDEN was developed from the recognition that entrepreneurs approach business differently,`` says Richard Franklin, corporate liaison at ASU/SkySong, the Scottsdale Innovation Center.

``No two days are the same; the leaders of these businesses and companies wear different hats, work different hours, and have a passion for the value they add through their companies. We created SDEN to target these types of companies primarily and quickly supply them with like-minded, entrepreneurially biased talent. SDEN applicants have that same type of entrepreneurial mindset and they understand and appreciate the variety and divergence in the approach.``

The program is different from any one of the many internship opportunities offered through ASU's 22 colleges. It is the university's entrepreneurship-focused internship program and, while course credit can be arranged for an SDEN internship, is billed more as a real-world setting, experiential opportunity for students that has become a top priority for the Department of Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

SDEN places interns and mentees with entrepreneurs and makes its possible for students to know which entrepreneurs are offering internships, project positions or serving as mentors to tomorrow's leaders.

Franklin notes that businesses taking advantage of the young ASU talent are privy to fresh ideas and enthusiasm.

``This is an opportunity for local businesses to bring onto their individual teams some great talent and to connect their companies with the cutting-edge knowledge being generated by ASU's four campuses. Students bring to the real-world workplace added service, given their interests in venture creation. Students from majors such as business, nursing, the arts, law and engineering -to name just a few -- offer a range of knowledge, interest and skill sets that could be just the right fit for a business, large or growing.``

Entrepreneurial action is a key component in ASU's vision of the New American University. Programs such as SDEN engage students, faculty, alumni and the community in advancing and promoting an entrepreneurial culture both within the university and throughout the Greater Phoenix community. Current efforts to breed a greater attention to entrepreneurship are supported by a recent $5-million grant from the Kauffman Foundation that was given to ASU to expand and establish programs like SDEN across the four campuses and its academic units.

``This is a fast-matching mechanism that links high-energy, entrepreneurial companies in the Valley with like-minded students,`` says Franklin.

``Our goal is to give students the opportunity to work in a real-life entrepreneurial setting. The benefit to the employer is that they get some great help in their businesses and the benefit of new approaches and new ideas that have been grounded in an interdisciplinary, problem-focused approach.``

For more information on SDEN, contact Richard Franklin at 480-884-1812 or via email at SDENinfo@aus.edu.

The Promise of a Brighter Future: Local Scholarship Program Boosts Arkansas Economy

The Economic Development Administration November newsletter examines the ``El Dorado Promise.``

Most students (and their parents) across the United States share a common goal -- graduate from high school and go to college. Many of them, however, know that the promise of a college education is dependent on scholarships, student loans and other financial considerations.
Meanwhile, community leaders are faced with the responsibility of providing educational opportunities for their citizens that will, in turn, lead to economic growth for the community as a whole.
In recognizing these challenges, Murphy Oil Corporation funded the El Dorado Promise - a scholarship program set in motion to advance the residents of El Dorado, Arkansas -- a small southern city of 21,500 people, located 120 miles south of Little Rock.
Initiated in 2007, the ``El Dorado Promise`` is a $50 million scholarship commitment serving El Dorado High School seniors. Tuition is provided for graduating seniors intending to pursue an associate's or bachelor's degree. Scholarships are based on years of attendance at El Dorado public schools, with the maximum amount based on the resident tuition at an Arkansas public university.
Students can attend any college and funding is granted for up to five years. The program is not needs-based and students apply by filling out an application during their senior year. Over 200 scholarships have been awarded, each year, for the past two years.
According to President and CEO of Murphy Oil Claiborne Deming, ``education is the one thing you can provide people that permanently changes their lives.``
But changing people's lives isn't the only benefit that the El Dorado Promise is bringing.
The projected economic impacts of this investment include: enhanced workforce development, higher-skill, higher-wage jobs and a more competitive region within Arkansas. In fact, El Dorado Mayor Mike Dumas has already seen drastic changes in his community.

Department Announces Grant to Assist Ohio Workers Affected by Layoffs

The Department has announced a $3,877,672 grant to assist approximately 386 workers affected by layoffs in the Wilmington Air Park area in Wilmington, Ohio. The layoffs occurred at DHL Express, ABX Air Inc. and ACS Business Process Solutions.

News Release

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Information Technology and Innovation Forum Release 2008 State New Economy Index

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Information Technology and Innovation Forum have made available the 2008 State New Economy Index

The report is being released during Global Entrepreneurship Week, an initiative to inspire young people around the world to embrace imagination, innovation and creativity.

The authors note, in part:

The State New Economy Index measures states' economic structures. Rather than measuring state economic performance or state economic policies, the Index focuses more narrowly on a single question: To what degree does the structure of state economies match the ideal structure of the New Economy?

News Release

Access to Report

Minnesota and California Partnership Supports Student ePortfolios

Students throughout California will be able to develop electronic portfolios, or ePortfolios, allowing students to create an online showcase of their works, designs, art and other achievements, through a new partnership between the California Virtual Campus (CVC) and the Minnesota System of Colleges and Universities (MnSCU).

ePortfolios are online software applications used for academic assessment, accreditation and institutional reporting purposes, teaching and learning, and career development.

This new resource is available through a licensing agreement between the CVC and MnSCU to implement MnSCU's ePortfolio software application, known as eFolio Minnesota at California institutions.

The California Virtual Campus (CVC), a grant-funded project of the Technology Unit of the System Office, California Community Colleges, is implementing this agreement within a pilot project called ePortfolio California. ePortfolio California explores options for supporting the use of ePortfolios on campuses statewide and is part of the CVC mission to provide technology services to California's college students. eFolio Minnesota is the first software application to be tested as part of the ePortfolio California pilot project. Twelve college and universities have already committed to participate in this pilot project.

The agreement also calls the California and Minnesota participants to collaborate in future ePortfolio efforts between the states.

Schools involved in the initial pilot include nine campuses of the Los Angeles Community College District, Foothill Community College, Riverside Community College District and San Francisco State University

News Release / Contact Information

Department of Labor Announces Grant to Assist Louisiana Workers

The Department of Labor has announced a $7.5 million grant to assist approximately 1,200 workers from 15 Louisiana companies affected by permanent closures and mass layoffs. This project also will aid another 300 long-term displaced workers impacted by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Of the 1,500 workers targeted for services, approximately 370 have been certified for Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA).

The grant, awarded to the Louisiana Workforce Commission, will provide affected workers with access to the full array of dislocated worker services. In addition, the state of Louisiana will create specialized skills training programs with comprehensive individual development plans customized for each worker. TAA-eligible dislocated workers will have access to services not covered under the TAA program, including counseling, case management, job search, job placement and follow-up.

Between Feb. 1 and Aug. 11, 2008, layoff notices were issued by 15 companies throughout Louisiana, including companies in the manufacturing, government contracting, forest products and aerospace industries.

This project includes the following 18 parishes: Bienville, Bossier, Caddo, Claiborne, De Soto, Jefferson, Lincoln, Natchitoches, Orleans, Plaquemines, Red River, Sabine, St. Bernard, St. Charles, St. James, St. John the Baptist, St. Tammany and Webster. Of the $7.5 million awarded today, $2,031,400 will be released initially. The remaining funds will be allocated as the state demonstrates a continued need for assistance.

News Release

Department Announces Grant to Assist Maine Workers Affected by Paper Industry Layoffs

The Department of Labor has announced a $527,465 grant to assist workers affected by layoffs at Katahdin Paper Co. in Millinocket, Maine.

This grant, awarded to the Maine Department of Labor, will provide all affected workers with access to the full array of dislocated worker services. TAA-eligible workers will have access to services not covered under the TAA program, including skills assessment, counseling, case management, job search assistance, job placement and follow-up.

The grant will be operated by the Eastern Maine Development Corp. The Katahdin Community Transition Team, formed in June 2008, has developed training strategies that will be implemented for workers seeking to take advantage of them.

News Release

Department Awards Grant to Develop Strategic Plan for Merrimack River Valley Region of Massachusetts and New Hampshire

The Department has announced a $250,000 Region Innovation Grant to a four-county area of Massachusetts and New Hampshire to develop an integrated regional strategic plan that addresses significant current and future worker dislocation events.

The grant, awarded to the city of Lowell, Mass., will align workforce and economic development resources and establish economic strategies for the region. The result will be a strategic plan that addresses the economic impact of the manufacturing industry's decline and positions the region for 21st century competitiveness.

The Greater Lowell and the Merrimack Valley Workforce Investment Boards will serve as the project operators. The Merrimack River Valley Region consists of the following four jurisdictions: Essex and Middlesex counties in Massachusetts, and Hillsborough and Rockingham counties in New Hampshire. Twenty-two Massachusetts municipalities and 13 New Hampshire municipalities are within this region.

News Release

Training and Employment Guidance Letter No. 16-03 (Change 5)

Regional Innovation Grants - Use of National Emergency Grant Funds Under the Workforce Investment Act, as Amended, to Support Regional Strategic Planning Activities Related to Major Economic Dislocations