Emily Stover DeRocco Speech
NAID/ADC Annual Conference
Denver, CO
June 6, 2005
Thank you, Tom. Good morning and thank you all for inviting me here today. This conference could not come at a more important time and I am happy that the Department of Labor and its state and local affiliates can play a role in helping communities through the Base Closure and Realignment Process.
Today, America finds itself in an economy in which the speed and pace of change require that workers, businesses, and communities constantly transform themselves. We at the Department of Labor serve each of these groups and we recognize the impact that transformation can have on them.
The widespread transformation that many communities have undergone in response to these changes is very similar to the experience many of you will face when the official base closure list is approved. Like the steel mills in the rust belt and the textile mills in the Carolinas, military bases all around the country provide a vital source of jobs and income for entire towns.
Thankfully, we have the strongest and most vibrant economy in the world. It allows entire areas to transform their identity and find new and continuing success. This does not happen without a sound strategy though. That strategy must focus on three key areas of community economic development: infrastructure, investment, and talent development.
Many of you already have a significant advantage over those old mill towns because the infrastructure created and now being left behind by the military is a foundation to build from. My focus today though is on the talent development side of a community strategy.
I am sure many of you are unfamiliar with the role of Department of Labor. We oversee something called the workforce investment system. It is a $15 billion system in which the Labor Department acts as a coordinating and funding organization, and state and local areas set strategic direction through Workforce Investment Boards and deliver direct services through One Stop Career Centers. There are over 3500 career centers nationwide.
Each local area controls a significant amount of funding to run those local Career Centers and provide services to individuals and employers. For individual customers, this includes temporary unemployment benefits, reemployment services, and job training to help them launch a new career.
Customers can also access a wealth of information about the local economy including what are the growth industries, what level of education and training is required for different occupations, and what the expected earnings could be across different careers.
In short, these career centers are intended to offer workers and job-seekers the information and resources needed to research, select, and train for a new job or a new career.
Job seekers are not the only consumers of Career Centers though. Community businesses and employers are equally important customers. Employers are, after all, the ones that hire the job-seeking customers so it is vital that each local area understand the workforce requirements of its employers and design services to meet those needs.
This commitment to employer services is highlighted by the management structure of each local career center. Employers are charged with setting the strategic direction of the system through oversight bodies known as workforce investment boards. These boards, both at the state and local levels, can direct the expenditure of resources and manpower in specific directions as it benefits their local area.
While local areas have the most overall funding in the workforce system and provide the direct services to individuals and employers, it is the state that possesses the most flexible funds. Each Governor is permitted to hold a percentage of the $15 billion invested in the workforce system in his or her state.
These funds are called the Governor’s set-aside and are extremely flexible dollars that can particularly help communities expecting a larger, realigned military base. They can be used to improve the skills of incumbent workers and otherwise assist businesses that will need to ramp up their operations.
We have been in regular communication with our state and local partners since the BRAC announcement over three weeks ago and they stand ready to assist each community that will be affected by either base closings or realignments.
While states and local areas have the majority of the funds and deliver the direct services to customers, there are still some steps that we at the federal level are taking to support their efforts and prepare them for the final list due at the end of the year.
