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issue 11 - August 2006 |
kathy.sweeney@state.mn.us |
In this Issue:
- Best Practices Shared and Posted at MWCA Web Site
- Workforce Innovations Shared at Conference in Anaheim
- Three Minnesota Areas to Receive Federal Assistance
- Career Exploration Programs Launched by Washington County Partnership
- Forum Showcases Local Workforce Development Initiatives
- Minnesota to Celebrate Manufacturer’s Week October 23-27
- 2006 Legislative Session Wrap-Up Now Online
- ABE Partnerships Enhance Workforce Education Statewide
- News Note: PFA Approves More Than $300 Million for Financing Infrastructure Projects
From the MWCA ChairBest Practices Shared and Posted at MWCA Web Site;
Spread the Word about the S.T.E.M. Summit
By Trish Taylor
The summer meeting of the Minnesota Workforce Council Association (MWCA), August 8 - 9 in Duluth, was packed with useful information and networking opportunities.
One of MWCA's top goals for 2006 was to encourage and share best practices among the 16 Workforce Service Areas. As you may recall, MWCA invited Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) to share their innovative initiatives that had a positive impact on their Workforce Service Area. In response, 20 best practices were submitted by local boards. Judges included DEED Commissioner Ward Einess, Governor’s Workforce Development Council Executive Director Brenda Norman and U.S. Department of Labor - Region 5 Minnesota Liaison Jim Sawyers. These judges selected three outstanding best practices submitted by the nominees. The three best practices were (in no particular order) the Robotics Academy project (submitted by Washington County), January Jump Start event (submitted by Dakota-Scott Workforce Services) and Workforce Development Inc./Southeast – Health Care Academy.
All 20 best practices can be found on the MWCA 's web site at www.mncounties3.org/mwca/workforce_system.htm
The meeting also featured a panel discussion by state agency partners (including Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Minnesota Department of Education and Minnesota Department of Human Services) on their key policy initiatives for the year ahead.
The Minnesota Department of Education is planning to launch a series of initiatives this fall that will focus on math and science training for high school students. The series will be kicked off at the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (S.T.E.M.) Summit on Saturday, September 30, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul. (For more information, go to www.education.state.mn.us)
The S.T.E.M. Summit will bring together Minnesota companies and hundreds of high school students and their parents and will help to encourage early career exploration in the hundreds of occupations available to persons with science and math skills. I strongly encourage local WIBs to participate in getting the word out about the summit.
I look forward to continuing my tour of all of the WIBs in Minnesota this fall!
Workforce Innovations Shared at Conference in Anaheim
Workforce Investment Board members and workforce development practitioners from Minnesota learned about innovative regional strategies and global results at a nationwide conference July 11-13 in Anaheim. The conference brought together the leaders in workforce development from across the nation.
"It was very exciting to participate in this national event where best practices in the nation were showcased,” said Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) Workforce Development Director Bonnie Elsey.
Minnesota presented three workshops. The topics were on Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) integration in the one-stops, personal reemployment accounts, and Business Services strategic partnerships.
Minnesota also had a booth showcasing CareerOneStop; a joint venture between DEED and Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU) on behalf of the U.S. Department of Labor. New CareerOneStop features announced at the conference include:
- Competency Model Clearinghouse – at www.CareerOneStop.org/CompetencyModel/ It identifies emerging industry skill needs, and resources for competency-based curriculum development, career exploration and guidance, and skill-based job descriptions.
- Worker Transition Coach – at www.workertransition-coach.org. It links workers and workforce development professionals involved in a layoff to on-line resources.
U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training Emily DeRocco emphasized the need for life-long learning and was very visible throughout the conference serving as a speaker and moderator. She is in favor of establishing "Career Advancement Accounts" that would be used by training providers strictly for training workers and job seekers.
"The message was that we really must take steps as leaders at the local level to support regional economies," said attendee Barbara Chaffee, director, Central Minnesota Jobs and Training Services. "Also we can’t do things in silos anymore. In Central Minnesota we've been working with regional partnerships already. We’re ahead of the game in Minnesota when it comes to regional work. We’re really progressive, thanks in part to Bonnie Elsey, who has been on the cutting edge and is a strong leader. She’s done a marvelous job of bringing Minnesota’s workforce development into the 21st century."
Chaffee, along with Trish Taylor, Minnesota Workforce Council Association chair, and Brenda Norman, executive director of the Governor’s Workforce Development Council, met with DeRocco. She encouraged them to continue their leadership in sectoral work including identifying "champions" as part of that process.
Erik Aamoth, DEED business services director, was impressed by speaker Michael M. Crow, president, Arizona State University (ASU), because he is implanting an innovative model in university education that has an important impact on workforce development in that state.
According to Crow, a goal of ASU should be to prepare its citizens for success in life. To achieve this, ASU has established policies to enable students to more easily transfer credits for coursework between community colleges and the university. Furthermore, ASU no longer uses a traditional model of a main campus with comprehensive course offerings, and branches offering a narrower range of courses. The university strives to offer the same curriculum to every campus so that people of diverse backgrounds can enter the University and receive the skills training and education to be competitive in the workforce.
Central Minnesota Regional Administrator Joan Danielson said she learned a lot about essentials to rural economic health through a session facilitated by Ed Morrison, an economic policy consultant for the Indiana Council on the Humanities. He talked about the concept of “strategic doing” in rural economies.
A rural community can use "strategic doing" by asking these questions:
- What could be done together with others that the community isn't doing together now?
- What could the community focus on that’s worth its time (list 10 new ideas, such as building a business park, improving roads, etc.)?
- Choose one or two ideas from this list to become focused. These ideas should transform the community and bring meaningful benefits to its citizens.
- What does the community have to do? What steps should be taken and who needs to become involved?
- How do we know if we’re successful? How do we evaluate success?
Meredith Anderson, DEED Workforce Development Division, learned about tools helpful for workforce development practitioners and job seekers. She particularly appreciated Workforce3One’s new Demand-Driven Quick Start Action Planner that can help users identify areas to focus on, making Minnesota’s local Workforce Investment system more demand-driven.
"If you log into www.workforce3one.org now, you will find a big red ‘Demand-Driven CLICK HERE TO LAUNCH’ button at the top of the home page," said Anderson.
For more details about the conference, visit its web site at www.workforceinnovations.org/
The conference was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration and the American Society for Training & Development.
Three Minnesota Areas to Receive Federal Assistance in Coordinating Regional Services to Job Seekers and Businesses
Three Minnesota Workforce Service Areas (WSAs) - Stearns Benton, Central Minnesota and Southwestern Minnesota - have been selected jointly to receive federal assistance in aligning education with economic and workforce development activities. The designation was made last month by the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) and the U.S. Department of Labor - Employment and Training Administration.
Together, the three Minnesota WSAs are one of just four designated sites in the nation to receive a package of services customized to meet the needs of the region.
"These areas have already agreed to coordinate services to job seekers and businesses across the region, so they are in an excellent position to benefit from this program," said Ward Einess, Acting Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). "Thanks to their leadership, their efforts have attracted national attention."
The region's demographic diversity and its potential as a test site for transforming regional systems met various criteria used in making the joint designation, as did clear interest on the part of local Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) and other community leaders in:
- Prioritizing economic and labor market needs using available information tools.
- Integrating workforce investment and education into regional economic development plans.
- Aligning the missions, functions, and resources from multiple state and federal programs to support a shared agenda.
- Taking a regional (i.e., multi-jurisdictional) approach to workforce and economic development.
"These areas are already building on their community assets and establishing broader workforce and economic development partnerships to sustain and strengthen the regional economy," said DEED Strategic Projects Manager Kathy Sweeney.
The NCEE group will work closely with the three local Workforce Investment Boards and their local and regional partners in economic development and education, as well as with DEED, to design customized assistance based on materials developed in cooperation with the International Economic Development Council (IEDC), Council for Community and Economic Research (ACCRA), the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, and Regional Technology Strategies.
Ten WorkForce Centers in the region, including satellite offices in many counties, will be used as resources in this effort.
Career Exploration Programs Launched by Washington County Partnership
As a result of a Robotics Academy and Precision Manufacturing Career Exploration program, many students (with support from their parents) are looking at machining and engineering as possible careers. The Robotics Academy taught secondary school-age youth how to build and operate robots, requiring the practical application of math and science. The Precision Manufacturing Career Exploration program was a learning program for teachers to prepare to teach the curriculum for hands-on applications in the Robotics Academy and in their classrooms during the upcoming school year.
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Pictured: Robotics competition readies our future workforce for careers in the precision manufacturing sector. |
A Washington County partnership launched these programs after discovering that machining training programs are available at several technical colleges, but high school graduates weren’t interested in them. Meanwhile, manufacturing companies had difficulty finding skilled machinists to fill their workforce needs. Manufacturing is a key industry sector for workforce development, according to the Washington County Workforce Investment Board (WIB).
The programs were developed by a partnership led by the Washington County WIB in collaboration with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Stillwater Area Public Schools, businesses, training providers and other entities.
"I see the Robotics Academy as a way to encourage students to enter the engineering and manufacturing fields, both of which need more talented workers," said Jon Ness, owner of Haberman Machine and chair of the Minnesota Chapter of the National Tooling and Manufacturing Association.
"So often in education circles we hear about ‘rigor.’ But here, students are learning about wheels, gears, pneumatics, levers, wiring, remote technologies, all intuitively," said Tom Wendt, an instructor at the Robotics Academy, teacher in the Stillwater Area Public Schools, and participant in the Precision Manufacturing Career Exploration program. "It brings academics back to the practical level."
The Precision Manufacturing Career Exploration program connected teachers to the real world application of science, technology and math through structured experiences at the manufacturing companies. Each teacher spent four hours of observation and discussion time at businesses, viewing various aspects of design, manufacturing, quality control processes and operations.
According to Washington County WIB Chair Jeanine Swanson, many parents have developed a positive perspective on machining careers for their children as a result of attending a robotics competition featuring robots built by students and touring a state-of-the-art precision manufacturing company.
"The relationships we have developed with precision manufacturing companies also provide job seekers opportunities to learn about the industry through company visits, internships and on-the-job training," said Clarice Olson, Business Services Specialist, who is a member of the Washington County WIB. These companies are posting job openings on Minnesota’s Job Bank and participating in the Washington County WorkForce Center’s “Business of the Day” program.
"We have built a model that may be used to encourage students to consider careers in any key industry," said Swanson.
The two programs have been videotaped by the Stillwater Area Public School District to be used as a model to encourage students to explore careers in manufacturing. CDs have been produced to help other school districts design and implement similar programs. For a copy of these resources send an e-mail to clarice.olson@state.mn.us.
Dunwoody College of Technology hosted a week-long training session for teachers and loaned five gear kits for use by the students during the Robotics Academy. The East Metro Integration district provided funding for students from St. Paul and Stillwater to attend the Robotics Academy without charge. A Minnesota Department of Education Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (S.T.E.M) grant was also used for equipment purchases.
Other entities in the partnership include the Minnesota WorkForce Center - Washington County, Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association, Midwest Robotics League, Haberman Machine, Mold Craft, Valley Dental Arts, Oakdale Precision, Classic Manufacturing and Granite Transformations.
Forum Showcases Local Workforce Development Initiatives
The Washington County Workforce Investment Board (WIB) partnered with the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association (MPMA), Midwest Robotics League and the Stillwater Area Public School District to bring together nearly 200 representatives for a forum showcasing Washington County WIB’s activities. Attendees came from business, education, workforce development and economic development fields.
"The event was an example of a collaborative success," said Jeanine Swanson, Washington County WIB chair. "Thinking Locally-Acting Globally—Connecting Business, Education and Workforce/Economic Development" was the second forum hosted by the Washington County WIB.
The keynote speakers were Linda Baer, senior vice chancellor for academic and student affairs – Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system (MnSCU), and Tom Gillaspy, Minnesota state demographer. A panel of experts, (Charles Arnold, executive director of MPMA; Michael Ericson, city administrator for Hugo; Trudy Knoepke-Campbell, workforce planning for HealthEast Care Systems; and Keith Ryskoski, superintendent of Stillwater Area Public Schools) responded to issues raised by the changes in the global economy and how they relate to Minnesota and Washington County.
Here are some highlights from the event:
- Baer said people must realize that Minnesota is competing in a global economy, and that job quality, workforce skills and investment in infrastructure will be necessary to boost the quality of life for workers.
- Gillaspy portrayed a workforce growing older, one that will grow in size much more slowly. He said the battle for talent will intensify, making workforce development more critical to Minnesota’s and Washington County’s future.
- Knoepke-Campbell said a large wave of registered nurses will be retiring at the same time as baby boomers; and the baby boomers will require more health care services. DEED projects that from 2004 - 2014 there will be a need for workers to fill 24,000 registered nursing jobs. The state needs to address this issue and enhance technological skills of all health care workers in the future, she said.
- Arnold said the manufacturing sector is encouraging a knowledge transfer from older workers to their younger counterparts. Many firms ask older workers to return to the workplace part-time to pass on their knowledge.
Students from the Midwest Robotics League (a part of MPMA) demonstrated how to race the robots they had built by remote control. Students had been taught to build robots as a way to interest them in occupations (like machining) that require math and sciences.
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Pictured: Demonstration of miniature robotics competition within the tabletop. |
Students from the Stillwater Area Public Schools showcased public service videos they had made during the school year, as well as the WIB video they had recently redone. The lead organizer of the event was the WIB Business and Marketing Committee. Members of that committee included Clarice Olson, Business Services, DEED; Doris Karls, Stillwater Area Public Schools; Dan Hartman, City of Oakdale; Robert Crawford and Rachel O’Connell of the Washington County WorkForce Center.
Minnesota to Celebrate Manufacturer’s Week October 23-27
Join workforce and economic development practitioners across Minnesota who have decided to plan events to celebrate Manufacturer's Week - October 23-27.
"The purpose of the week is to recognize and promote the importance of manufacturing to the state and regional economies," said Debra Bultnick, manufacturing industry specialist, Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED)/Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association (MPMA).
"Workforce and economic development practitioners across the state agree that building a strong manufacturing base is a key element to building a strong tax base for strong communities."
According to Bultnick:
Among all industries, manufacturing employs the largest number of people in Minnesota with over 347,000 private sector jobs, representing 15.3 percent of total employment in the state in 2005. As a major industry sector, manufacturing generally pays better than average wages. Total wages paid to manufacturing industry workers tops $16.98 billion or 18.3 percent of total wages paid in Minnesota.
Given the importance of the manufacturing sector, it makes sense to plan events to recognize manufacturers in your area, she said.
Greater Minnesota
Among the many events planned for Manufacturing Week is a Manufacturer & Support Industry Breakfast on Wednesday, October 25. Lee Helgenset, Business Services Specialist - DEED, is collaborating with the Alexandria Area Economic Council to launch this new event in the Alexandria area. Mark Geier, who will be the featured keynote speaker, will discuss how Minnesota manufacturers can develop a "China strategy" in face of the fierce competition presented by the global marketplace. Governor’s Certificates of Commendations will be given to key manufacturers and those that support their businesses. A second event in Alexandria, "Business and Industry Appreciation," will follow on Friday, October 27.
Metro Area
The Minnesota Manufacturers Coalition will hold its annual Manufacturing Summit on Wednesday, October 25, in conjunction with the MPMA annual meeting. The event will feature keynote speaker John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers; a gubernatorial candidates forum; presentations by local manufacturers; and a reception. The keynote speaker at the MPMA meeting (open to nonmembers) will be Al Frink, Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing and Services, U.S. Department of Commerce. All events take place at the Hilton Minneapolis (1001 Marquette Ave.).If you’d like to access various kinds of useful information for manufacturers, visit the MPMA web site and click the "Positively Minnesota" tab (www.mpma.com/debra.html).
For more ideas of how to celebrate Manufacturers Week in your area, read "Minnesota Manufacturer's Week honors businesses statewide." A copy of the article can be obtained by sending an e-mail to Bultnick at dbultnick@mpma.com.
Contact Bultnick or Minnesota’s Manufacturer’s Advocate Diane Knutson at diane.knutson@state.mn.us, for more information or details to participate in an upcoming event.
2006 Legislative Session Wrap-Up Now Online
This report contains summaries of major policy, appropriation and bonding bills during the 2006 Legislative Session that have a direct bearing on the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). Links to the report have been posted at www.deed.state.mn.us/news/legislativesummary/2006LegislativeReport.htm.
ABE Partnerships Enhance Workforce Education Statewide
Adult Basic Education (ABE) partnerships for manufacturers, food processors and health care providers and their work forces are enjoying success in Minnesota, according to Minnesota State Director of Adult Basic Education Dr. Barry Shaffer. A partnership typically comprises a business, ABE, a local Minnesota WorkForce Center/Workforce Investment Board and other agencies.
ABE provides low-wage earners with literacy skills and other ways to improve their abilities. The ABE partnerships’ success can help to close a problematic gap between the availability of skilled workers and the employee performance requirements needed by Minnesota’s businesses.
Minnesota’s ABE program helps by offering (often in the work place) English language classes for immigrants and refugees, basic skills enhancement for the undereducated and underemployed, and high school completion for those who can’t advance without a diploma or GED certificate.
"ABE has long been held in classrooms throughout the state of Minnesota, but now workers are learning from the convenience of their own work places," said Shaffer.
Many Minnesota companies in the health care, food processing, and manufacturing sectors have held ABE classes at their work sites – and more are joining them, said Shaffer. Among the best known of the companies who have held ABE training on site are Twin Cities Die Cast (manufacturing), Gold’n Plump Poultry (food processing), and Abbott Northwestern Hospital (health care/medical).
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Pictured: The English as a Second Language (ESL) class at Gold'n Plump Poultry in Cold Spring, Minnesota. In the front row is Mike Helgeson, Gold'n Plump CEO; Laurie Leitch, ABE instructor; and Jana Hutton, ABE paraprofessional. Students are in the back. |
Success story: ABE On-site Program at Gold’n Plump Poultry
One recent example of a successful program was a 24-week English as a Second Language (ESL) program at the Gold’n Plump Poultry Company in Cold Spring, Minnesota. Participants’ ability to function better in English as a result of the program was demonstrated by improvements in their CASAS scores. (CASAS is one of the federally-approved-adult-appropriate standardized assessments used by ABE.)
Feedback from program participants and Gold’n Plump Poultry Company managers also indicated important successes as a result of the program:
- Employees had more confidence and appeared less embarrassed - when speaking with their supervisors, according to managers.
- Program participants were now speaking with their supervisors more often, and were even helping their coworkers, who are native English speakers, on the job, according to managers.
- Participants indicated that they were more confident using work place vocabulary and communicating with their supervisors.
Communication skills, following written instructions, and understanding the American work environment were among the topics covered in the two-hour classes, held twice a week. The program was presented with an emphasis on work place literacy.
VSM earns "Best Workforce/Training Initiative" project award from EDAM
Vital Signs Minnesota (VSM), a Burnsville business specializing in the production of medical devices, was named the Best Workforce/Training Initiative project in the state by the Economic Development Association of Minnesota (EDAM) for 2006. The project featured a basic literacy skills training that was designed by the Burnsville ABE (a WorkForce Center partner) to meet the exact needs of VSM. Twenty students met twice weekly in two-hour classes at VSM for the 15-week program.
Skip Nienhaus, economic development coordinator for Burnsville, worked with the Dakota-Scott County Workforce Investment Board (WIB) and the local WorkForce Center to develop and implement the project.
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development also played an important role in earlier stages of the project.
The project was funded through a 2004 Workforce Investment Act Incentive Grant. Funding required an employer matching contribution and coordination with a skills training provider, (in this case the Burnsville ABE).
For More Information about ABE Services
Remember Adult Basic Education (ABE) services as you look to strengthen workforce development. For additional information about workforce education classes for businesses in your area, contact your local ABE program. Go to http://mnabework.themlc.org and click on "ABE Directory Listed by WSA – 2006.doc" for contact information.
To contact the Minnesota Department of Education – ABE Office regarding workforce education, contact Anne Marie Leland at 651-582-8479 or anne.leland@state.mn.us.
PFA Approves More Than $300 Million for Financing 115 Critical Public Infrastructure Projects
After receiving the largest-ever state appropriation for critical public infrastructure projects, the Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (PFA) has given the green light for more than $300 million in low-interest loans to municipalities for 115 wastewater and drinking water projects throughout the state.
"The record amount is in clear recognition of the growing need to upgrade basic infrastructure to protect the environment and public health, while providing basic services needed for the state to grow and expand its economy," said PFA Chair and Acting DEED Commissioner Ward Einess. "While it’s true that the work of the PFA often goes unnoticed, we can not underestimate the value of effective water and sewer systems to stabilize communities, enhance public health and environmental safety, create jobs and add capacity to serve a growing economy."
To read the full press release, go to www.deed.state.mn.us/news/release/2006/bus10Aug06public.htm
Key Contacts:
Kathy Sweeney Stephen Larson Connie Ireland |
Rick Roy Dave Niermann Jim Wrobleski Joan Danielson |
Kathy Sweeney |
Irene Connors |
We Need Your Feedback
We're trying to make this newsletter as timely and useful as we possibly can and, to accomplish that goal, we need to know what you want to know. We need and welcome any feedback you can offer – especially concerning topics of broad statewide or regional interest to the WIBs and all other partners. To register your questions, comments, complaints and suggestions, simply send an e-mail to Kathy.Sweeney@state.mn.us. We'll do our best to address your concerns directly and use your feedback to help us develop articles for future editions of the newsletter.
Thanks.