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| SkillWorks Updates: Summer 2011 |
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America's workforce is our country's most valuable resource, but right now there are more than 14 million people who can't find a job. Federal employment training and job placement programs play a crucial role in giving Americans the education and training services they need to get back to work and helping businesses find the workers they need. Now is not the time to reduce our investments in these vital programs. Sign up today to participate in the National Workforce Week of Action and stand united with SkillWorks, the Workforce Solutions Group, and other local and national workforce organizations this week in support of adequate funding for workforce education and training programs. Do you have 1 minute?
Send a letter to your Senators and Representatives urging them to protect workforce funding in the Fiscal Year 2012 budget. Do you have 5 minutes? Write a message on your elected officials' Facebook or Twitter pages and encourage your friends and colleagues to do the same. Click here to download some talking points. Do you have 10 minutes?
Call your Members of Congress. Click here to download talking points you can use in speaking with the Member's staff. Do you have 30 minutes?
Write a Letter to the Editor. Click here for some tips for success. |
Middle-Skills Solutions Act (SB 921/ HB2713)
SkillWorks and the Workforce Solutions Group are excited to share that a hearing has been scheduled for the Middle-Skills Solutions Act: An act establishing a middle skills council and regional skills academies in the Commonwealth.
Please hold October 27, 2011 at 10:30 am for a hearing at the State House in front of the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development.
This bill, sponsored by Senator Kenneth Donnelly and Representative Cheryl Coakley-Rivera and 54 co-sponsors, is based on the recommendations of the Skills2Compete Massachusetts campaign launched last summer, and aims to draw attention to and increase the success of non-traditional students in post-secondary education and training.
Now we need your help! We are seeking testimonies from students, employers, and advocates willing to speak about the importance and impact of investing in pathways to middle-skill credentials and jobs.
Sign up to participate
Download a copy of the bill
Download bill FAQs
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Workforce Development Funding Opportunities
H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants
The Department of Labor announced the availability of approximately $240 million in funds for an H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants program. This grant program is designed to provide education, training, and job placement assistance in the occupations and industries for which employers are using H-1B visas to hire foreign workers, and the related activities necessary to support such training. The Department will make awards to two types of training grants: at least $150 million will be awarded to grantees that provide On-the-Job Training (OJT) to all participants and the remainder will be awarded to those that use other training strategies. Between the two types of grants awarded, DOL intends to fund at least $45 million to applicants proposing to provide training for occupations in the health care industry and at least $60 million to applicants that serve long-term unemployed individuals. Partnerships must include at least two entities from among the following groups: (1) businesses or business-related nonprofit organizations, such as trade associations; (2) education and training providers, including community colleges and other community-based organizations; and (3) entities involved in administering the workforce investment system established under Title I of the WIA, and economic development agencies. Grant awards will be made only to the extent that funds are available.
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 SkillWorks Receives Green Jobs Innovation Fund Award
As a partner in Jobs for the Future's GreenWays Initiative proposal to the US Department of Labor, SkillWorks will receive an $850,000 grant to train automotive technicians with a specialty in hybrid technology.
As Chris McKeen of Auto Service and Tire in Mattapan commented, "Hybrid technology is here to stay. As a shop owner, we have to address the rising needs for alternative fuels and the hybrid technology of our customers. We cannot ignore how important it is to keep up with the technology
and training."
SkillWorks is excited to be launching this partnership and adding a hybrid technology and alternative fuels component to make training graduates more competitive in the job market.
Read more |
 Participant Profile: Wen Wei
Wen Wei was a training participant in the SkillWorks-funded Chinatown Green Collar Career Pathways initiative led by the Chinese Progressive Association.
Through the program, Wei landed a job at the Aulson Company as a crew chief. His story is below, in his own words (translated from Chinese): "Before I began working for the Aulson Company in the weatherization field, I worked as a bus driver for a local travel agency. I was paid $100 a day for up to 14-16 hours of work with no overtime. I had put $2000 down to even get the job in the first place as insurance against any accidents. When I stood up against my boss, I was fired. "Now, I am in a completely different situation, where my employer values and respects my work. I am currently working for the Aulson Company as a weatherization crew chief. The Aulson Company is setting an example for the weatherization community by partnering with community organizations and giving immigrant workers like me a chance. I am paid $18.50/hr, I receive health benefits, and I am a proud member of the Painter's Union. This means that there is an organization that will protect and represent my interests in the workplace. In addition I will receive priority for the Painter's Union apprenticeship program. This is the type of career opportunity created when we work with responsible employers and set high labor standards in the energy efficiency and construction field. We are proud to set the bar and be part of the emerging face of the labor movement." |
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2011 Jobs and Workforce Summit
 | Youth Panel participants at the Jobs and Workforce Summit.
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Workforce Solutions Group, SkillWorks' policy advocacy grantee, led the effort to put on the 2nd annual statewide Jobs and Workforce Summit in late June. Over 350 people came out representing business, labor, the workforce training system, community colleges, and adult basic education providers. One of the highlights of the event was getting to recognize employers, innovative workforce partnerships, and model training providers for their work. SkillWorks congratulates two of our employer partners, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Children's Hospital Boston, for receiving the 2011 Employer Champion awards. SkillWorks director Loh-Sze Leung also facilitated a panel on middle-skill credentialing strategies. Download panel handouts and read more about the summit.
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Director's Remarks
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Can it really be mid-August already?
Things have been busy for SkillWorks and our partners. Not only have our partners been hard at work training hundreds of participants, helping them get jobs, skills and wage gains, but we've also been engaged in advocacy at the state and federal level to maintain funding and support for workforce programs.
If you haven't participated in the National Workforce Week of Action, now's the time. It only takes one minute to make a difference. Your voice is critical.
Thank you for your continued partnership.
Loh-Sze Leung
Director
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Children's Hospital Boston featured in National Fund publication
As a partner in the SkillWorks-funded Healthcare Training Institute, Children's Hospital Boston has stepped up its commitment to helping employees gain credentials for middle-skill jobs at the hospital. One outcome of its work has been the establishment of a new Tuition Advancement Policy for employees in the Bridge to College program.
Read the practice brief for more info.
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SkillWorks Funders
The Barr Foundation BNY Mellon The Boston Foundation Chorus Foundation The City of Boston's Neighborhood Jobs Trust The Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Garfield Foundation The Hyams Foundation The Clowes Fund, Inc Microsoft Corporation National Fund for Workforce Solutions Nellie Mae Education Foundation State Street Foundation Surdna Foundation United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley |
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SkillWorks Partnerships
Chinatown Green Collar Career
Pathways Initiative
Emergency Medical Careers
Partnership
Energy Efficiency Technician
Apprenticeship Program
GreenSTREAM: Sustainable Training Resources for Environmentally Advanced Manufacturing Healthcare Training Institute
Hotel Training Center
Workforce Solutions Group
Year Up Financial Services
Partnership |
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About SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive Workforce
SkillWorks is an ambitious effort on the part of philanthropy, government, community organizations, unions, and employers to respond to Massachusetts' workforce crisis. SkillWorks' goal is to create a workforce development system that helps low-skill, low-to-moderate income residents move to family-sustaining jobs and helps employers find and retain skilled employees. It is the largest public/private investment in workforce development in Boston's history.
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