On June 26th, the Regional Workforce Alliance (RWA) of Southeastern Wisconsin, which includes leadership from the region's three workforce development boards, awarded $525,944 to eleven area partnerships for innovative talent-development solutions in the seven-county Milwaukee 7 region of Kenosha, Milwaukee, Ozaukee, Racine, Walworth, Washington, and Waukesha Counties.   These awards were made from a $2.5 million Innovation Fund offered through the Southeastern Wisconsin Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Initiative.

 
The region's WIRED Initiative, made possible by the U.S. Department of Labor, fosters new ways of delivering education and training in order to enhance the talent development system for the region.   In Round I of the Southeastern Wisconsin Innovation Fund, investments in workforce innovations were made in two categories: (1) exploratory Investments were made up to $35,000 and (2) demonstration investments were made between $35,000 and $100,000. 
 
Projects funded through Round I include: Industrial Machine Repair Boot Camp,  Manufacturing Careers for Youth, STEAM - 21st Century Learning meets FIRST Robotics, IT Architecture and Modeling, Milwaukee SOLAR, Careers for Young Adults in the Emerging Water Industry, Strategic Plan, Workplace Diversity Toolkit, Bridging Valley Communities: A Network Model of Economic Development, Energy and Automation Course,  ConnectED
 
"This first round of the WIRED Innovation Fund has a range of projects that will build new partnerships between organizations in key areas such as advanced manufacturing, technology, and career exploration.  The organizations selected in this round will share the outcomes and findings of their project to seed further innovation and partnerships," said Michael Mortell, RWA / WIRED Coordinator.