Confronting
the Skills Crisis And Workforce
Challenges of the New World Economy
Newsletter
Volume
3, Number 2, February, 2009
Please
submit articles and news items to the NOCC
for inclusion in future newsletters and on the CRCC web site.
In
this issue:
-
-
Workforce
Development News
- CRC
Consortium News
- Suggested
Readings
CONFERENCE
NEWS
-
National
WorkKeys
Conference, San
Antonio, TX, May 12-15, 2009. www.act.org
WORKFORCE
DEVELOPMENT NEWS
- The
luncheon speaker on the last day of the Southeastern WorkKeys conference
this year was Helen Parker, the Region
III Administrator, US DOL. Helen shared with participants the latest
information from DC, although this year, she had fewer specifics to
share. Helen had some good advice--as usual--for those of us in the
field who are anxious to respond to the economic stimulus package
signed into law last week. Her advice was: Be bold and visionary,
recklessly inclusive, steal good ideas, put forward disruptive ideas,
collaborate until it hurts, always question the status quo, measure
and celebrate successes, and remember, we're in it for the long haul!
- Helen
Parker also referred to the new emphasis being placed on career/work
readiness efforts that are inclusive of life skills. Many conference
participants were pleased to hear this as they have used the CRC as
the basis for new CRC+ credentials, some of which already include
life skills programs. See below for news from the CRC Consortium and
some creative CRC+ initiatives.
- The
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
of 2009 (aka the stimulus package!) includes $3.95 billion for job
training including State formula grants for adult, dislocated worker,
and youth programs (including $1.2 billion to create up to one million
summer jobs for youth).
- In
2008 a group of workforce service providers founded the Coalition
for Workforce Solutions that supports
the important work of its members through a focused program of federal
government relations and communications, including Congressional and
Administration outreach. The CWS is the only national coalition that
collectively represents employers, workforce development providers,
vendors and service organizations that operate and utilize One-Stop
Career Centers, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families initiatives,
career and technical education programs and workforce investment services.
CWS’s
2009 Legislative Priorities are:
(1)
Increasing appropriations for Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs
and future legislation; and
(2)
Ensuring that WIA reauthorization or new workforce authorization
creates a world-class, innovative, agile, transparent and accountable
system.
Some
CWS members include:
Alchemy
Systems LP
Arbor
Education & Training, LLC
Arbor
Workforce Institute
Association
of Farmworker Opportunity Programs
DTI
Associates, Incorporated
Dynamic
Educational Systems, Incorporated
Dynamic
Works Institute
Educational
Data Systems, Incorporated
Exodyne,
Incorporated
Geographic
Solutions
HRMS/NetAssets
Kaiser
Group Incorporated
National
Council of La Raza
Profiles
International
ResCare,
Incorporated
Ross
IES
SER
– Jobs for Progress National, Inc.
SIATech
TTG
Consultants / Lincolnshire
UMOS,
Incorporated
VKG
Solutions, LLC
For
more information about CWS, please contact Ed Trumbull, Executive
Director at:
Coalition
for Workforce Solutions, 1199 North Fairfax Street, Suite 400, Alexandria,
Virginia 22314, 703.548.8535 ext. 425 (Office), 410.917.4510 (Mobile),
etrumbull@lrginc.com (E-Mail)
- In
a March article in The
Atlantic, Richard Florida addresses the recent financial
crash, and he refers to two major phenomena that have been reshaping
our economy for about a generation. The first is the growth of a discrete
number of mega-regions, systems of multiple cities and their suburban
rings that will be somewhat better buffered from the crash than most
other single cities (think the Char-Lanta corridor, the Texas Triangle,
and the Boston-New York-Washington corridor). The second phenomenon
is the ability of cities and regions to attract highly educated people.
Florida maintains that this sorting of people by ability and educational
attainment, on this scale, is "unprecedented". For example,
some cities like Austin, Seattle, San Francisco, Raleigh, and Boston
have two or three times the concentration of college graduates as
other cities.
- Check
out Edutopia--What
Works in Education for the latest news and information
on grants, ideas, and innovations that affect education and workforce
development.
- Latest
reports from Beijing indicate that 1 in 7 residents of that city are
now unemployed!
CRC
CONSORTIUM NEWS
- The
Southeastern Workkeys Conference in Jacksonville,
FL was a great success once again. The conference committee is to
be congratulated on providing three days of stimulating news on the
CRC and other WorkKeys-related activities. It was to be expected that
attendance would be down due to the economic crisis, but there were
still approximately 200 attendees. Despite very cold temperatures
outside, discussions and presentations inside were enough to warm
the heart of anyone who believes in the CRC! State
efforts are impressive--see the numbers of CRCs
issued on the web site and below.
Debra
Lyons inspired listeners during her luncheon address with great
news from Georgia on the Georgia Work Ready
initiative. Progress has been swift and testifies to the enthusiasm
and dedication of Debra and her team--particularly the person she
calls her "secret weapon", Fred McConnell who has succeeded
in getting almost all GA counties into the project. Full details
of their progress in certifying Work Ready Communities can be found
at www.gaworkready.com
but in summary, the state now has now issued almost 40,000 CRCs
and most of its counties are either certified or are in the process
of gaining certification.
- Tremendous
news too from Virginia in terms of CRC+ initiatives. The VA Council
on Advanced Technology Skills (VCATS) has developed a Certification
System that builds on the CRC. The Manufacturing
Drivers License includes an Applied Technology score, OSHA
certification, and a VA Community College System certification that
requires various background checks, drug screening, basic computer
skills, spatial reasoning, precision measurement and other WorkKeys
assessments in Observation, and Team Building. The Level
1 Manufacturing Technician Certification goes beyond this to
include assessments in leadership, the business of manufacturing,
soft skills, production, and quality. Level
2 Intermediate Manufacturing Technician Certification includes
an extensive list of other manufacturing skills, and the Level
3 Advanced Manufacturing Technician Certification is
even more specialized. Full details of this program may be obtained
from Sheryl
Bryan (VCATS),
and John Calver
( Thomas
Nelson Community College). If you will be at the National WorkKeys
conference in San Antonio, look for their presentation--you will find
it fun and informative.
If
you would like more details on how the NOCC expands these terms, please
ask.
Who's
Your City? How the Creative Economy is Making Where To Live the Most
Important Decision of Your Life, Richard
Florida, 2009.
The
author of The Rise of the Creative Class has done it again!
Another fascinating analysis of how the economic crisis has changed
our world and the decisions we will make in the future. This new book
has not yet been released but may be pre-ordered. Visit the archives
of npr (Talk
of the Nation) to listen to an interview with Florida on his
new topic.
How
the Crash Will Reshape America, Richard Florida,
The Atlantic magazine, March 2009. Print a copy by clicking
here.
NOCC
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
We
are no longer Post-anything. We are PRE-something very new.
Thomas
Freidman, Hot, Flat, and Crowded
Be
kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle!
Plato
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NOCC February, 2009 |