State Workforce Investment Board Report of Progress - 2006

State Workforce Investment Board

and

The Governor’s Office of Workforce Development

Report of Progress

September 25, 2006

Governor Sonny Perdue’s vision for workforce development is to link education and workforce development together and align with the economic development of the State, its regions and communities.  To enable this vision to become a reality for Georgia, the Governor reconstituted the State Workforce Investment Board under his Office and established the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development by Executive Order dated February 2, 2006.  In that order, the Governor tasked the Board with the mission of developing a strategic plan that would enable his workforce development vision to be implemented in Georgia.

Since that time, the following workforce development activities have been cataloged on behalf of the Governor by the State Workforce Investment Board and the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development:

• The State Workforce Investment Board has met four times to develop and approve a working draft of Georgia's Comprehensive Workforce Development Strategic Plan.  The final approval of the plan is anticipated by mid fall 2006.  The Governor’s Office of Workforce Development serves as staff to the Board in support of its strategic planning efforts and implementation of the strategic plan as directed by the Governor.
  
• On behalf of the Governor and in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Labor, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development awarded approximately $1.8 M in supplemental grants to seven local workforce investment areas to support delivery of services.  Below is a breakdown of funds awarded:
  
  • $1,659,507 in dislocated worker funds to 5 local agencies targeted to provide the following services:
    
    • Continue training for 166 current dislocated workers
      
    • Continue support services to 359 current dislocated workers
      
    • New training for 616 new dislocated workers
      
    • Support services for 508 new dislocated workers
    
    
  • $50,000 in adult funds to one local workforce agency to provide services for 20 adults
    
  • $110,000 in youth funds to two local workforce agencies to provide services for 80 youth.
  
  
• On behalf of the Governor, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development awarded a $1 M grant to expand middle/high school career counseling efforts through the Stay In School (SIS) program.  The SIS mission is to engage students early in career exploration, help them to successfully transition into high school and to make their high school course selection and work more meaningful.  The goal of this program is to increase high school attendance, performance and graduation rate; increase the number of students pursuing post-secondary education; and, to reduce the number of students requiring remediation in post-secondary institutions. Currently 7,406 students are benefiting from this program.
  
• On behalf of the Governor, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development is coordinating Georgia’s Work Ready Program. This two fold initiative is a joint effort between the Governor and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce to implement both a statewide Work Ready Certificate that will validate an individual’s work readiness level and to establish a pathway for counties to become Certified Work Ready Communities. The Governor’s Office of Workforce Development has encumbered $2,053,823 in WIA discretionary funds for PY2005 to support statewide delivery of Work Ready program services through the Technical College System of Georgia and supplemental funding for demonstration communities.
  
• On behalf of the Governor, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development awarded $300,000 to the Center of Innovation for Manufacturing Excellence to fund the following activities:
  
  • $200,000 in demo matching incumbent worker grant to provided advanced manufacturing training to existing employees.  The purpose of this demo is to provide incentive to improve skills of existing workforce in order to increase productivity and skill level of the company and to create entry level openings.
    
  • $25,000 in training funds to support introductory advanced manufacturing classes to enable the older youth and adult community to explore this career option.
    
  • $25,000 to support after school and summer advanced manufacturing career exploration youth camps that will introduce students to careers in robotics.
    
  • $50,000 to pilot a demo project targeting an ‘At Risk’ manufacturer.  The purpose of the demo is to provide support training to a company at risk of closing to enable them to look at employing new advanced manufacturing techniques as a solution to return them to profitability.
  
  
• On behalf of the Governor, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development awarded $26,500 in a demo grant to fund an Adult Education Center on site at a company scheduled to close resulting in over 950 dislocated workers (5% of counties workforce), of which many lack a high school diplomas.  The purpose of this demo grant is to assess the success of early intervention in providing a path for soon to be dislocated workers that lack a high school diploma.  By providing early and easy access to obtaining their GED, it is intended to give them a ‘jump start’ on finding new employment and to help prepare them for additional training.
  
• On behalf of the Governor, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development applied for and was accepted into the National Governor’s Association Policy Academy for Workforce Development Sector Strategies.  The team is lead by the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development and with members from the following Georgia state agencies:  Governor’s Policy Staff, Department of Economic Development, Department of Labor, University System of Georgia, Department of Technical and Adult Education and from the local level, Chairman of the LaGrange Industrial Authority.
  
• On behalf of the Governor and in support of the State Workforce Investment Board, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development has undertaken a workforce development strategic mapping effort in support of the Board’s strategic plan.
  
• On behalf of the Governor, the Governor’s Office of Workforce Development in cooperation with the Georgia Department of Labor applied for and received a WIA Incentive Grant for $762,930 to fund additional projects as specified below:
  
  • $410,000 to GDTAE to expand the SIS project previously discussed.   11,559 additional students will benefit from this project.
    
  • $106,276 to GDTAE demo the Adult Transition Centers of Excellence
    
  • $100,000 to GDOE demo a Career Management Tool
    
  • $146,654 to GDOL for the Jobs for Georgia Graduates program

Associated Document(s):

	State Workforce Investment Board PY2005 Report.pdf
	PDF, 3 pages, 132KB