What's New
States Tailor Workforce Investment Works Campaign
Washington, D.C. - February 13, 2012 - The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) is partnering with state workforce associations (SWAs) and state workforce investment boards (SWIBs) across the country to develop unique, state-specific educational campaigns that showcase the successes of the workforce investment system. This system is funded through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) which authorizes nearly 550+ local business-led workforce investments boards (WIBs) that cover all fifty states, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Territories to oversee and coordinate services through a network of 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers.
New Web App Brings Access to Workforce Investment Act Analytics to the Nation’s Workforce Investment Boards
Ringwood, NJ – January 30, 2012 – FutureWork Systems, LLC and the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) have partnered to bring national quarterly Workforce Investment Act (WIA) data to workforce investment boards using the latest in Web-based Decision Support Technology. Under this new partnership, NAWB brings its members significant savings on subscription fees for this new WIA resource.
Webinar: WIBs from the Corporate Perspective
February 10th at 1:00pm EST
ManpowerGroup executives who proudly serve on their local WIBs will share insights on recruiting, engaging and retaining high-caliber members. Register now for a ManpowerGroup webinar, presented in partnership with NAWB.
Webinar: Investing in America's Future Workforce
February 10th at 1:00pm EST
NAWB and the Partnership for America’s Economic Success will outline their findings and recommended strategies regarding the link between early childhood education and workforce development.
Learn more »
Workforce Leadership Council
Beyond WIA: 2012 Learning Exchange Opportunity
The Council is a learning exchange of workforce boards that participate in a structured cohort based on private-sector quality improvement processes such as Lean Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, and change management.
Learn more »
McGraw-Hill Research Foundation Policy Paper Addresses Growing Demand for a Skilled and Educated Global Workforce
A policy paper released by The McGraw-Hill Research Foundation calls for greater collaboration between the business and education communities to create a coordinated, institutionalized system that prepares the workforce of today and tomorrow for the demands of an increasingly high-tech and more competitive global economy. Authors Janet Bray, executive director of the Association for Career and Technical Education; Ron Painter, CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards; and Mitch Rosin, director of adult education and workforce initiatives for McGraw-Hill Education call on business and educational communities to collaborate to decrease widening skills gap.
Read the press release »
Download a copy of the paper »
NAWB & FCM 2011 International Davey Award Winner
National Association of Workforce Boards Campaign Wins the Silver
Workforce Investment Works (WIW) campaign was selected for the 2011 Davey Awards, judged annually by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA). The project was a collaborative initiative between Full Capacity Marketing, Inc. (FCM) and the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB)— a nonprofit membership-based organization representing business-led Workforce Investment Boards (WIB) that plan and oversee workforce development and job training programs through Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funding.
Heldrich Center Seeks Community Colleges with Initiatives Related to Older Workers, Dislocated Workers, and/or Students with Disabilities
The Heldrich Center is conducting research on community colleges and older workers as part of its USDOL-funded initiative on the Aging Workforce, Disability and Employment. The Center is currently seeking to identify community colleges to highlight in this research. Please contact Maria Heidkamp at heidkamp@rutgers.edu or at (732) 932-4100, ext. 6313, if you know of any colleges that may have a notable initiative or practices related to older workers, dislocated workers, and/or students with disabilities. Thank you for your assistance.
Obama Administration Awards Nearly $500 Million in Grants to Community Colleges for Job Training & Workforce Development
The grants support partnerships between community colleges and employers to develop programs that provide pathways to good jobs. Read the press release »
Clinton Global Initiative
Putting Service to Work
The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) has joined the service corps community in a commitment to facilitate and manage a new service-to-work coalition that will place 25,000 service corps graduates in high-quality jobs over the next five years.
Chambers of Commerce & Business Organizations Support for WIA Reauthorization
To date, more than 80 Chambers of Commerce and business organizations across America representing over 50,000 businesses have sent a clear message to Congressional leaders through a letter of support for reauthorization of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Engage your local chambers and business associations to sign the letter of support.
Read the Press Release
Sign the Letter – read the letter and add your signature.
Current Chamber Supporters – list of supporters that have signed.
Response to Critics: Time to Ax Federal Jobs Programs
There are four jobseekers to every job vacancy and over 13.9 million unemployed in the worst recession that the U.S. has seen in generations; yet, recent critics have expressed strong opinions about axing federal employment and training programs. Why? In summary, these critics contend that 1) programs are wasteful and don’t fill any critical need that private markets can’t fill in the modern economy; 2) in spite of high unemployment there is little use of the 3,000+ offices across the country that house these programs; and 3) job seekers rely on the Internet and other private sector companies that replicate federal employment and training services.
Response to Critics: What Job Training Teaches National Association of Workforce Boards: Present Day Solutions
Yet another critic surfaced in an op-ed piece to the Wall Street Journal around the “failures of job training programs”. The author takes us through a history of various government programs ending in a reiteration of recent criticisms of the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). The op-ed points out that credentials are “just something HR people care about”, and offers no solutions to getting people back to work, other than eliminating all federal employment and job training programs. Is it sound advice to eliminate a system that, over the past two years, assisted 8.5 million job seekers, finding more than half (4.3 million) jobs during that time? If WIA is such a waste, why have over 90 Chambers of Commerce and business organizations to date, representing over 60,000 businesses, signed a letter of support for reauthorization of the WIA? NAWB proposes that we move from history to present day and examine what the actual job creators—companies in America—have to say about the workforce investment system, credentialing and skills, and the need for job training.
“When Congress is in session, NAWB’s weekly updates from Capitol Hill keep us apprised of legislative developments that affect the workforce system at the national and the local level.”
Kim Adkins
Executive Director
West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board, Virginia