Employment and Training Administration - Workforce Professionals - Topics of Interest

OVAE Invites Proposals for Ownership and Operation of the Online English Literacy Resource -- 'U.S.A. Learns Web Portal'

The Office of Vocational and Adult Education (OVAE) within the Department of Education introduced a free, web-based portal to help immigrants learn English to help them expand their opportunities and make effective contributions to American society on November 7, 2008.

OVAE has announced plans to turn over ownership and operation of the portal to one or more entities outside of the Federal Government that would, with its or their own resources, continue the maintenance and upkeep of the portal, make improvements to it, and continue to make the portal available at no cost to the public.

OVAE has requested proposals by December 31, 2008. OVAE would like to turn over ownership and operation of the portal by or about January 15, 2009.

OVAE notes, "There are no Federal funds available to support the portal once ownership and operation have been transferred from the Federal Government. It will be the sole responsibility of the selected entity or entities to bear all costs associated with ownership and operation of the portal."

Full background / responsibilities of portal operator / review factors / use of advisory committee

Pathways to Public Health

The Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH), with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has announced the launch of a new and improved version of the "Pathways to Public Health" web site at http://www.pathwaystopublichealth.org. "Pathways to Public Health" has been developed to help young people learn more about public health education and public health careers. The website, which will be continually updated with new resources and information, features a wide range of resources designed to educate and inform young people about the wide variety of public health careers and their contributions to protecting the health of us all. The site updates include the ability to post material on social networking pages, and interactive and multimedia features including polls and videos.

New York Quarterly Workforce Indicators Now Available; 46 States Now Have Data on Local Employment Dynamics Website

Quarterly Workforce Indicators (QWI) for the state of New York have been posted on the Local Employment Dynamics (LED) website. They are available through the QWI Online and Industry Focus. New York becomes the 46th state to post its QWI data on the LED website.

Also see:

Industry Focus

Community Economic Development HotReport

Small Business Profiles for the States and Territories

The Small Business Administration has published the 2008 edition of Small Business Profiles for the States and Territories. The narratives and tables provide a portrait of the economic condition and activities of how small businesses performed in their respective states and how they are important their local economies and that of the United States.

The profiles contain sections on the following topics: the number of firms, industry composition, small business income, banking, business ownership, and employment.

Engage: A Practitioner's Guide for Effective Engagement of Business Leaders in Regional Development

One of the biggest challenges in implementing regional development efforts is recruiting business leaders who lend their insight, influence and financial resources to these projects. The Council on Competitiveness believes that having actively engaged business executives is critical to almost any regional effort, be it focused on talent development, transportation, energy sustainability or comprehensive efforts to build regional innovation hotspots.

Engage: A Practitioner's Guide for Effective Engagement of Business Leaders in Regional Development is designed to support the creation of cross-sector collaborations to address economic opportunities and challenges. Developed with the support of the Employment and Training Administration, this guide lays out a series of recommendations aimed at helping regions to recruit, develop and sustain the involvement of business leaders.

The Council's work has demonstrated that national prosperity depends upon regional innovation. To drive U.S. competitiveness, productivity and leadership in world markets, U.S. regions must be supported by engaged business leadership. This guide is intended to support the efforts of practitioners and private sector leaders who are addressing the regional innovation imperative in communities across America.

Engage: A Practitioner's Guide for Effective Engagement of Business Leaders in Regional Development

Access to Other Council Publications

FTA Announces Funding Opportunity for United We Ride Mobility Management Grants

The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has announced it is soliciting proposals from States and tribal associations or consortia for United We Ride (UWR) mobility management grants.

FTA will provide funding in the amount of $1.5 million to support grants ranging up to $300,000 each. These grants are intended to assist States and tribal associations in supporting the development of transportation coordination capabilities and capacity within local or regional human service networks to address the individualized customer transportation needs of persons and families with low income, persons with disabilities, older adults and youth.

Specifically, these grants seek to address individual customer needs for mobility within workforce development, health care, aging, youth, disability, education, housing, veterans and other social service or human service support networks. State or tribal mobility management proposals may include the development of educational programs, training and technical assistance activities, and mobility management coordination pilots for or within such networks.

These grants are not intended to fund the capital or operating costs of specific transportation services or transportation brokerage programs. The projects proposed should represent new or expanded activities, not just the maintenance of existing actions already being funded. FTA-funded technical assistance and training programs are described that may prove helpful to applicants in either developing or implementing proposals.

Proposals must be submitted February 12, 2009.

Click here for full background and application requirements.

ETA Proposes Extension of Trade Act Participant Report

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) has proposed an extension (without change) of the Trade Act Participant Report. (TAPR). The TAPR is a Government Performance Results Act-compliant data collection and reporting system that supplies critical information on the operation of the Trade Adjustment Assistance program and the outcomes for its participants.

The "thirty-day" notice for this collection appears in the November 14 FEDERAL REGISTER. This notice provides instructions for the submission of comments. Comments should be sent to the Office of Management and Budget by December 14, 2008.

The "sixty-day" notice for this collection appeared in the August 1, 2008 FEDERAL REGISTER.

Energy Publishes Guidelines and Companion ICR for "National Priority Project Designation"

The Department of Energy (DOE) today has published guidelines for persons and organizations interested in requesting National Priority Project Designation as established in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Following approval of a companion information collection request, DOE will publish an invitation to apply under the guidelines. (Comments on the ICR are due by January 12, 2009.)

Presidential National Priority Project Designation may be earned by organizations involved in projects that are leading the way in using energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies. This designation provides the President of the United States and the Secretary of Energy with a mechanism to recognize projects that are making the greatest strides in helping North America reduce its dependence on fossil fuels and promote domestic energy security.

Projects that receive the National Priority Project Designation will be highlighted by the Department as transformational energy efficiency and renewable energy leaders. DOE will work with recipients and with national media sources to spotlight these projects as models for the rest of the country and the world.

The categories include:

Grid-Scale Generation by Wind and Biomass Energy Projects

Distributed Generation by Photovoltaic and Fuel Cell Energy Projects

Building Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects

First-in-Class Building Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Projects

O*NET Academy Now Offers Podcasts and Improved Site Navigation

The Occupational Information Network (O*NET) system serves as the nation's primary source of occupational information, providing comprehensive information on key attributes and characteristics of workers and occupations.

A newly re-designed O*NET Academy website now provides easy access for the workforce community to upcoming webinars, recorded webinars and online courses. In addition to other useful materials provided on the Academy, podcasts have also been added as a new feature to enhance the user experience.

Employment Programs for Unemployment Insurance Recipients

The Worker Profiling and Reemployment Services, Short-Time Compensation, and Self-Employment Assistance programs have provided employment services exclusively to unemployment insurance beneficiaries.

The October 2008 Monthly Labor Review examines the history of each program as well as its State-level implementation in "Employment Programs for Unemployment Insurance Recipients."