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Sector Strategy Academies
Enable Effective Partnerships at Local Level
CSW partnered with four states this fall to conduct statewide training sessions for local education, workforce development and economic development stakeholders to design and implement effective sector partnerships.
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New Approach
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West Virginia Community Colleges Ahead of the Curve in Preparation for American Graduation Initiative
West Virginia's community college presidents agreed over a year ago that the sector partnership approach to education and training is a powerful and efficient way to connect students to the labor market and to meet local industry needs for skilled workers. By embracing the sector partnership approach, these leaders are setting an important precedent for other community colleges across the nation, showing them how they can better connect with industry, college level academic and workforce divisions and other critical partners in their communities.
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New Investment
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Over 200 U.S. DOL Grantees Using Partnerships and Employer Engagement To Develop Sector Training
In 2010, $750 million in funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was awarded to projects across the country to support training in green, healthcare, and other high growth sectors.
In collaboration with the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Collaborative Economics, Inc., and the U.S. Department of Labor, CSW designed and co-hosted the first in a series of institutes for these DOL grantees. The scale and scope of these efforts are impressive, and speak to the potential of sector partnerships to create the workforce needed by a range of growing industries.
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Capacity Building
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Transformation Academy Helps Build Sector Policy Skills for Michigan's Workforce Professionals
When local stakeholders design and implement a sector partnership, they need their State-level counterparts and administrators to support their efforts. In Michigan, this led to a unique training approach for staff of the state agency responsible for supporting local development of Regional Skills Alliances, Michigan's name for sector partnerships. When state level staff understand the sector partnership model, they are better able to support local conveners to implement successful sector partnerships.
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Relevant Resource
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CSW's START Toolkit Offers Step-By-Step Guide to Sector Partnerships
The START (Sector Targeting to Advance Regional Transformation) toolkit is organized into 12 chapters that walk you and your partners through planning, implementation and on-going improvement of a sector initiative that meets the needs of key industries in your region, as well as the needs of workers, families and communities. Click here for more information on purchasing a START subscription.
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Sector Partnerships Are Improving Life for Employers and Workers
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 | | Click image to view video from the Sector Strategy Academies. |
Unemployment rates hover around 9%. Companies are closing their doors. States struggle to cope with budget shortfalls.
As workforce development professionals, we must make every shrinking dollar go further. In our work across the nation, one of the most promising and successful strategies we have seen is building Sector Partnerships. A Sector Partnership is a regional collaboration of employers, education and training programs, economic development, community based organizations and other stakeholders that come together to address the workforce needs of a critical industry in their region. By joining forces to create sector partnerships, a state and specific regions within it can each play a role in helping key industries to grow and create improved job and career opportunities for workers. It is a win-win scenario.
Every region has education and training programs in operation: one-stop centers, adult education programs, community colleges, career and technical programs, and more. Every region also supports an array of business service programs, like Chambers of Commerce, business service units in local workforce organizations, and employer outreach divisions in community colleges. Getting these entities to work together is a challenge, and this is where sector partnerships can help.
In sector partnerships, a dedicated convener works to engage the necessary stakeholders in a region, including employers, and coordinate across the various business services, education, training, and support programs. Working together, these partners design and provide a solution to employers' and workers' needs.
Sector partnerships make otherwise limited resources go further, and because they directly engage groups of employers in one industry, they can accurately assess and address skills needs.
And sector partnerships are effective. A recent evaluation of three sector initiatives showed that workers earned significantly more (18%, or $4,500 over a 24 month period) than the control group, because they were more likely to work, worked more consistently, and worked in jobs with higher wages. They also enjoyed more benefits such as health insurance, paid vacation, and paid sick leave.
In Pennsylvania, 84% of employers surveyed reported significant increases in productivity following the organization of a sector partnership. Pennsylvania industry leaders have contributed more than $9 million in private funds and more than $30 million in-kind contributions to support training and other initiatives.
Today, over 25 States are developing policies to support sector partnerships across their regions. Hundreds of sector partnerships are in operation across the country, in almost every industry. For more information, see CSW's Sector Strategy Fact Sheet, and check out these other resources: To get help with starting Sector Partnerships in your region or community, contact Lindsey Woolsey at lwoolsey@skilledwork.org. |
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Upcoming Event
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2011 Good Jobs/Green Jobs National Conference CSW is co-convening the 2011 Good Jobs, Green Jobs National Conference which will be held February 8-10 in Washington D.C. The conference will include more than 100 exciting and informative workshops, providing the opportunity to interact with some of the country's most knowledgeable leaders in the environmental, business, government, and labor communities. This year's workshops focus on key areas of concern for building the green economy, including: green infrastructure and transportation; state and local initiatives and partnerships; workforce, economic development and youth education; emerging green sectors; renewable energy and energy efficiency; business, investments and new markets; and clean energy manufacturing.
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| About CSW |
The Corporation for a Skilled Workforce is the partner leaders trust most to help them develop good jobs so that families and firms can thrive in the changing and turbulent economy. Our partners come to us because they need solutions. They stay with us because, together, we find solutions that are right for them.
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