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issue 12 - NOVEMBER 2006 |
kathy.sweeney@state.mn.us |
In this Issue:
- WIBs help GWDC with WFC Strategic Plan; Answer Two Questions by Early December
- Industry Specialists: Liaisons Available Through DEED
- On the Minds of Manufacturers
- Goodwill/Easter Seals Program Trains Workers for Banking Jobs
- Solutions Being Sought for Shortage of Truck Drivers in Minnesota
- Pilot Projects to Help Foreign-Trained Professionals Earn Licenses
- Mark your calendar for GWDC Meeting on December 20
- Minnesota’s Education to Workforce Policy Action Roundtable
- Kudos!
From the MWCA ChairWIBs help GWDC with WFC Strategic Plan; Answer two questions by Early December
It has been a very busy and productive fall for Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) in Minnesota. The Governor's Workforce Development Council (GWDC) is completing the Workforce Center Strategic Plan, which is presented to the Minnesota Legislature every two years in January.
As part of the planning process, the GWDC has asked every WIB to respond to two key questions by early December .
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What do you see as the key workforce challenges facing business/industries today?
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What strategies would you recommend to prepare Minnesota WorkForce Centers to best meet the needs identified?
If your WIB has not responded, I urge you to do so because the goal is for all WIBs to be represented in this plan. Several WIB members have been working closely with the GWDC in this planning process. Our next meeting is on November 8 and after that meeting, the process of writing the report to the Minnesota Legislature will begin. WIB members with questions or comments should contact Renee Raduenz at (651) 296-3669 or e-mail her at renee.raduenz@state.mn.us
Our association has been working closely with DEED to prepare a customized workshop taught by Sandra Hastings, a well known national trainer, on "Demand Driven Training" for all WorkForce Center staff and their managers. The training provides local staff with an opportunity to define how their own work supports their WIB's local business services plan. The training is a good way to reinforce the work of the local WIBs, including the planning process and priorities. Each local leadership team has been asked to give a report on the “Demand Driven Training” and their follow-up plans to their local WIB within four to six weeks following the session. Please remember that DEED's Business Services Staff and industry specialists are resources for the local business plans implementation in each area.
I look forward to several more visits to WIBs in the months ahead as I approach my goal of visiting all 16.
Have a happy and healthy Thanksgiving holiday!
Industry Specialists: Liaisons Available Through DEED
An industry specialist is a liaison between the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) and a specific industry such as transportation, financial services, health care, or manufacturing.
An industry specialist maintains close ties with industry representatives or trade associations (such as the Minnesota Hospitals Association) or with representatives of major companies in the industry to learn what they need. Industry specialists listen to the concerns of the representatives of the industry and share information with them.
The expertise of the industry specialists is particularly important when businesses have complex needs, such as attracting workers within a high-demand industry and providing skills and training for those employees.
“That’s where serving as a liaison is critical: the industry specialist needs to bring together the workers, educators, community agencies, industry associations, employers, partners and more to develop a comprehensive strategy to fill the industry’s need,” said Jeff Nelson, DEED industry specialist for financial services.
Often an industry specialist turns to partners to assist in creating a customized solution, according to Nelson. For example, if there is a need for incumbent worker training, the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership program or customized training services provided by Minnesota State Colleges and Universities might be part of the business solution.
An industry specialist typically asks questions that cannot be answered by a simple “yes” or “no” such as:
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What are your current workforce needs?
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What problems do you have filling those needs?
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What would help you grow your industry/business?
Equipped with knowledge of what the industry’s needs are, the next step is for the industry specialist to develop strategies that will help the industry meet its businesses’ needs.
Some typical questions might include:
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Is there a need to find qualified applicants to fill job openings? Minnesota’s Job Bank, the department’s cadre of job counselors, or community employment networks such as NET in Minneapolis are potential solutions.
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Is there a need for additional business locations? Perhaps MNPRO can provide a list of available sites.
An industry specialist’s short-term goal is to help Minnesota’s businesses grow. That’s the focus of staff who work in DEED’s Business and Community Development Division and the Business Services Unit of DEED. But as a result of accomplishing that goal, a business may hire more workers with higher rates of compensation. That’s the second goal of the industry specialist – generating more well-paying jobs in Minnesota – and the focus of staff who work in the Job Seeker Services unit of DEED.
When a needs-based solution is in place and an industry is hiring more workers, the industry specialist then turns to those who specialize in helping job seekers. By spreading the word that specific types of jobs are plentiful within an industry and that these jobs require specific training, and that the training can be obtained through an identified program, the industry specialist comes full circle in serving both businesses and workers.
DEED industry specialists that focus on workforce development issues are highlighted at http://mnwfc.org/WIBnews/July2006.htm#sectoral.
By Debra Bultnick
Note: A slightly different version of this article was published in the September/October 2006 edition of Precision Manufacturing, the journal of the Minnesota Precision Manufacturing Association (MPMA). Debra Bultnick is DEED’s manufacturing industry liaison.
I received an e-mail from a business service specialist working out of a metro WorkForce Center who had been in contact with a local manufacturer. The plant manager raised some questions that are perhaps asked by other Precision Manufacturing readers. I'd like to share my responses.
Q. What is the state doing to keep manufacturing jobs in Minnesota? What is the nation doing?
A. There are so many efforts to ensure the success of manufacturers in Minnesota, but I'd like to highlight a few. A good place to start is an update on what has happened since the Governor's manufacturing roundtables across MN in 2003. The July-August issue of Precision Manufacturing had an article by DEED’s Acting Commissioner Ward Einess, "Three Years Later," which gives details on some of what I summarize here.
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A key result of the 2003 roundtables is adding Diane Knutson to the position of manufacturer's advocate for Minnesota. This new DEED position at the state level is similar to that of Al Frink's at the national level. Diane's work focuses on policy and economic development issues that impact manufacturers. Diane is working closely with a group of Minnesota technical colleges to establish skill standards for manufacturing that includes quality, safety, maintenance, and processes. Details of the Manufacturing Skills Standards Certification (MSSC) are available on the MPMA website (www.mpma.com/debra.html).
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My position, manufacturing industry liaison for DEED, is also a result of the state's effort to have key people dedicated to targeted sectors. My focus is on workforce development. I work with trade associations, technical and community colleges, and regional WorkForce Centers to identify skill gaps and broker training to meet those gaps. For more information about what I do, see MPMA.com "Positively Minnesota." Also at that site are what I consider the “best of the best” reports and data for manufacturers and manufacturing stakeholders to access.
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The state has named MSU-Mankato and Bemidji State University as Manufacturing Centers of Excellence—the only sector to have two such designations. These two institutions received upwards of $2 million. We should soon begin to see new programs developed to support all areas of manufacturing including research, technology and workforce development.
- A key factor to the success of manufacturers is their workforce. There are several efforts underway but one that I’d like to highlight. M-Powered has emerged as a result of industry stakeholders concerned with the sustainability of manufacturing particularly in terms of workforce development. M-Powered bridges the gap between what employers require, what educators deliver and what students can achieve for successful careers in good paying jobs. M-Powered, a fast-track training program offered at Hennepin Technical College, has these key features:
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Designed to result in NIMS certification after only two 12-week courses with paid OJT between each course.
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Students are taught basic skills such as applied math, measuring, print reading and safety as well as the soft skills identified by employers as key employability traits: arriving on time, every day, drug free.
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Industry manufacturers actively advise, monitor and support the course and curriculum and hire from program graduates
- Available to incumbent workers to increase their effectiveness and provides them with a valuable certification
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- At the national level, the DOL has funded several initiatives via grants that meet the President’s High Growth Initiative adding millions of dollars to programs in manufacturing. Minnesota has not yet been awarded funding but we continue to submit proposals at the federal level and make progress with current funding levels.
Q. With the governor doing trips to China to expand trade and outsourcing becoming a necessary evil to stay competitive, what are we doing to protect jobs?
A. Frankly, some jobs in manufacturing are going away. However, manufacturing job vacancy rates are high all across Minnesota—jobs that require the brightest and best from our schools, universities, training partners and current workforce. The new jobs being created require mechanical ability, problem solving, creativity, technical ability, consensus building skills, and teamwork. Protecting jobs is not as important as developing a workforce with the advanced skills that are in demand everywhere. We lose jobs but not employees. Minnesota manufacturers are employed at pre-9/11 levels.
Regarding overseas competition, manufacturers competing successfully in China—and in Minnesota against China—are those that have taken a hard look at their business, determined their core competencies, and are playing to their business strengths. They succeed because they won’t be beaten on innovation, quality, or customer service. These manufacturers have developed a "China strategy" and best practices to sustain and even increase their bottom line. For tools to develop your own strategy, find and establish best practices and benchmarks, I suggest participating in the events and activities of the Minnesota Council for Quality. See MPMA.com "Resources" or go directly to www.councilforquality.org.
Q. Are manufacturing associations providing information that addresses these issues?
A. RSM McGladrey, along with the National Association of Manufacturers Manufacturing Institute, has written a comprehensive report, "The Future Success of Small and Medium Manufacturers: Challenges and Policy Issues." A full copy of this report is on the MPMA website (noted above) under "Positively Minnesota."
I appreciate the opportunity to provide other or more specific information. To have your questions addressed, please contact me via e-mail: dbultnick@mpma.com.
New Manufacturing Fact Sheet Online
Want to know the latest facts about the manufacturing sector in Minnesota? Go to www.deed.state.mn.us/facts/reports.htm and click on “Minnesota’s Manufacturing Sector” to view the most up-to-date version. Thanks go to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development staff members involved in producing this report —especially to Ed Hodder, Diane Knutson, Debra Bultnick and Jerry Steinworth for their hard work in making this happen in time for Minnesota’s celebration of the manufacturing sector.
Goodwill/Easter Seals Program Trains Workers for Banking Jobs
As part of DEED Industry Specialist Jeff Nelson’s efforts to develop relationships with various service providers in the banking industry, he found that Goodwill/Easter Seals offers its bank skills training program for entry-level employees. The program was developed because the banking industry has a critical need for more qualified employees, such as tellers, and especially employees who reflect the diversity of their communities. The six-week program provides 15 hours of training per week, focusing on both the “hard” (technical) and “soft” skills (involving judgment and communications) needed in the banking industry. Now Nelson works in collaboration with the Minnesota Bankers Association (MBA) to help build awareness among its members about this program and how the training program is becoming successful by producing job seekers prepared with the right skill set. Also Nelson is spreading the news about how the program serves job counselors who match suitable clients to appropriate job skills training.
Nelson discovered the Goodwill/Easter Seals program and the need for it by attending meetings with the MBA and with human resources executives at Wells Fargo and US Banks. Next steps may include expanding the bank skills training program to Greater Minnesota locations and developing a feeder network. The network would link Minnesotans who graduate from English as second language learning classes to the bank skills training program. Watch for more news about the bank skills training in future editions of the WIB Newsletter.
Solutions Being Sought for Shortage of Truck Drivers in Minnesota
A study released in May 2005 by the American Trucking Association (ATA) highlights a shortage of 20,000 drivers in the long-haul, heavy-duty truck industry, which represents 1.3 million of the 3.4 million truck drivers on the nation’s roads.
ATA President and CEO Bill Graves says the truck driver market is the tightest it has been in 20 years. Graves says it’s critical that Minnesota finds ways to tap a new labor pool, increase wages and recruit new people into the industry.
The nationwide turnover rate for large truckload carriers set a record in the fourth quarter of 2004. The full-year turnover rate for large truckload carriers averaged 130 percent. (Companies with more than $30 million in annual revenue are considered large carriers).
But the current shortage is only the beginning, according to Graves. Over the next 10 years economic growth will generate a need for 320,000 long-haul heavy-duty truck drivers and another 219,000 must be found to replace drivers 55-plus years who are expected to retire in the next decade.
Recruiting New Americans
As one partial solution, several community agencies have launched an innovative “New Americans Initiative” to identify, screen and educate second-generation Americans as potential candidates for truck-driver training.
“This initiative not only seeks to improve the opportunities for second-generation Americans already in the workforce and those who will be entering post-secondary schools in the near future,” said Christine Pigsley of Dakota County Technical College.
“The collaborative also seeks to provide a connection between truck drivers and employers (as well as transportation, manufacturing and biomedical industries) with worker needs while crafting improved methods in training second-generation Americans who live in Minnesota.”
To date, the New Americans Initiative hasn’t raised the necessary funds to support the program. So Minnesota trucking companies are grappling with the shortage of truck drivers in Minnesota, which poses difficulties for retailers and manufacturers who depend upon the trucking companies for “just in time” deliveries. The impact shows in higher cost of deliveries and delays of products arriving at their destinations.
Companies Offering Incentives to Attract More Workers
Another approach to the truck driver shortage is taken by companies that are creating incentives to attract and keep truck drivers in the occupation.
To entice workers to enter (or stay in the occupation), many companies are offering bigger incentives, says Graves. These include 401 (k) plans, financial and recognition awards, health insurance plans and more family-friendly driving schedules that may allow drivers to take spouses, children or the family pet on the road.
Transportation-related occupations – including truck mechanics and workers in related jobs like warehousing, logistics, customer service, and dispatch – also are expected to increase because of the growth of the transportation industry.
“Our priority needs to be in spreading the word about transportation industry opportunities to minorities and youth where there is the greatest potential to reach untapped labor pools,” says Anna Christopherson, transportation industry specialist at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
“Many high school students aren’t getting the message that truck driving is a good career. And those who do understand may be discouraged by parents who typically believe that the only way to making a good living is through a four-year college degree. That just isn’t so anymore.”
Business owners, Minnesota Trucking Association, and workforce development practitioners are working on ways to connect potential truck drivers with good-paying jobs in the transportation industry. For more information or to share your ideas about solving the truck driver worker shortage, contact Christopherson at Anna.Christopherson@state.mn.us or (952) 346-4326.
Calming the “Perfect Storm” in Health Care; Pilot Projects to Help Foreign-Trained Professionals Earn Licenses
The phrase “the perfect storm” was first used to describe a powerful, destructive weather system that ravaged the Atlantic Ocean in 1991 off the coast of Massachusetts. Now, according to Wikipedia, a perfect storm has come to mean any only-remotely-possible disastrous confluence of singly innocuous events.
“I like to use this term to describe the growing workforce shortage in the health care industry,” says Susan Speetzen, health care industry specialist for the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
To help solve the growing workforce shortage in health care, the Minnesota Legislature passed a supplemental budget bill allocating $450,000 from Minnesota’s Workforce Development Fund for three pilot projects to encourage the licensure in Minnesota of foreign-trained health care professionals.
This bill provides funding to Workforce Development, Inc. of Rochester, The African and American Friendship Association for Cooperation and Development, and the International Institute of Minnesota, (both in St. Paul) for assisting foreign-trained health care professionals so they can work in their chosen profession in Minnesota.
Each program will assist eligible applicants in assessing the steps and overcoming the barriers to becoming licensed. Funding will be available to pay for licensing exams, registration, study materials, books and classes that cover specific exams. It will also be used for English language/literacy training needed to successfully complete exams and classes. All the funding will go to direct services, none for administrative costs, according to Speetzen.
Thanks to these programs, these foreign-trained professionals will eventually be able to use their skills and talents in health care for the benefit of Minnesotans, while filling an important need for Minnesota’s health care providers.
Causes of the “Perfect Storm”
According to Speetzen, some of the events creating this workforce shortage in health care are:
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baby boomers retiring from the workforce and creating vacancies and a smaller generation replacing them,
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increased volume of chronic health care problems related to aging and longer life spans creating a need for more health care professionals,
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decreasing numbers of elementary and secondary students interested in health care careers.
(Readers interested in the aging of the workforce can view “An Aging Workforce: Strategies for Managing the Impending Retirement Wave” by Matthew Schoeppner, DEED labor market information analyst at www.deed.state.mn.us/lmi/publications/trends/0806/age.htm)
This isn’t just a problem for the industry itself; businesses throughout the state will have a hard time recruiting and keeping workers if their community doesn’t have strong health care services available for their employees, says Speetzen. The health care industry is an infrastructure industry -- one that’s necessary to support a growing community such as transportation, utilities and education.
“We should be well down the road of trying to remedy this shortage, but we are years behind,” said Speetzen.
Why Assisting Foreign-Trained Health Care Professionals Can Fill the Need
One way we can add to our health care workforce is by tapping into the minority population, which is growing at the same time as the baby boomers are getting ready to leave the job market, according to Speetzen.
Among the minority population are foreign-trained doctors, nurses, therapists, and technologists. Without the necessary credentials and licenses, they are unable to work in their former occupations.
“Acquiring a professional license to work in the health care field in the U.S. is an extraordinary challenge involving additional coursework, intense self–study, strong English language skills, travel to other states to take licensing exams, and in the case of physicians, a residency can take up to three years,” says Speetzen. “For an adult learner with a family to support, it can be a daunting challenge in terms of finances and time.”
How to Help Unlicensed Foreign-Trained Health Care Professionals
If you know of a foreign-trained health care professional who wishes to return to work in this field and become licensed in Minnesota, he or she should be referred to one of the following persons:
Deb Long, Workforce Development, Inc.
Phone: (507) 292-5155
dlong@wfdi.ws
Wilhelmina Holder, African and American Friendship Association for Cooperation and Development, Inc. Phone: (651) 645-5828
holderwv@yahoo.com
Carol DaBruzzi, R.N., International Institute of Minnesota, Phone: (651) 647-0191 ext. 313
cdabruzzi@iimn.org
Speetzen can be reached via e-mail at susan.speetzen@state.mn.us
Mark your calendar for GWDC Meeting on December 20
Plan to attend a special joint meeting of the Governor's Workforce Development Council and the Minnesota Job Skills Partnership Board December 20 in the Twin Cities. (The meeting will take place that afternoon with exact time and location still to be announced.) Schedule information will be posted on www.gwdc.org
The meeting will focus on the important topic of sectoral work in Minnesota and will feature an update on several examples underway with opportunities for the future. The focus will be on communicating why the sectoral approach works when put into practice and how to effectively leverage your area’s assets and infrastructure in its application.
Minnesota’s Education to Workforce Policy Action Roundtable
More than 80 business, education, policy, and workforce development leaders from across the state attended Minnesota’s Education to Workforce Policy Action Roundtable on October 23 in Bloomington. The event focused on developing policy recommendations for improving work readiness and decreasing the need for remediation.
According to Kathryn Marinello, now president and CEO of Ceridian Corporation. (formerly president of GE Commercial Finance Fleet Services) there are a number of desired outcomes for Minnesota’s workforce and education system. They include:
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Significant improvement in student achievement (K-12 education).
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Sustainable impact on college readiness and success for disadvantaged students.
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Engagement and ownership of key stakeholders.
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Structural changes at district and school level to improve effectiveness and efficiencies within Minnesota schools.
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Increased system capacity – leadership, management, data, and teaching.
Those in attendance agreed with Marinello in that some changes need to be made to Minnesota’s workforce and education system.
All of these partners came together to develop policy recommendations that we will be able to move forward through various means, according to Brenda Norman, GWDC executive director.
Keynote speakers included Marinello and Arthur Rothkopf, Senior Vice President and Counselor to the President for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
Twelve partners worked together to co-host the event, including: Council of State Governments, Lumina Foundation, Midwestern Higher Education Compact, Minnesota Business Partnership, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Minnesota Department of Education, Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development, Minnesota Department of Human Services, Minnesota Governor’s Workforce Development Council, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, Minnesota Office of Higher Education, and University of Minnesota. These partners will jointly compose a paper with specific policy recommendations and analysis of workforce preparation and remediation issues and action plan based on the results of this roundtable, and these items will be available to stakeholders within the next month.
This work is a part of the broader Education to Workforce policy initiative that began last October with the “Midwestern Education to Workforce Invitational Policy Summit” in Saint Paul. Thirteen Midwestern state delegations participated in the October 2005 event to examine the significant national education and workforce trends and concerns, and Minnesota’s Education to Workforce Policy Action Roundtable is a part of this larger initiative.
Kudos!
DEED's communications unit received an e-mail from Valerie Kvale, Workforce Development, Inc. - Albert Lea WorkForce Center. She wrote:
"I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy the new e-newsletter (WIB NEWS). It has a great format. It's informative and nice to learn about the staff and other happenings around the state. As a WorkForce Center partner, I find it provides background information needed to make appropriate referrals or to keep up-to-date."
Key Contacts:
Kathy Sweeney Stephen Larson Connie Ireland |
Rick Roy 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.