Tri-State Workforce Alliance



Tri-State Regional Workforce Alliance

National Business Development Partnership

Quarterly Progress Report

June 29, 2007

Section I. General Match Site Information

Reporting period: April 1, 2007—June 30, 2007

Learner Organizations: The Tri-State Regional Workforce Alliance has three key partners:

Southeast Tennessee Development District

P.O. Box 4757

Chattanooga, TN 37405

Phone: 423/266-5781

Fax: 423/757-5491

Primary Contact: Rick Layne, Assistant Director, Workforce Development

Email: rlayne@

Northeast Alabama Community College

P.O. Box 159

138 Highway 35 West

Rainsville, AL 35986

Phone: 256/228-6001 x 291

Fax: 256/228-7247

Primary Contact: Mike Kennamer, Director of Workforce Development

Email: kennamerm@nacc.edu

Coosa Valley Regional Development Center

P.O. Box 1793

Rome, GA 30192

Phone: 706/277-7466

Fax: 706/277-7466

Primary Contact: Karen Howell, Workforce Development Coordinator

Email: vandy88@

Mentor Organization:

WorkSource

215 Market Street

Jacksonville, FL 32202

Phone: 904/868-8086

Fax: 904/272-8927

Primary Contact: Candace Moody, Vice President

Email: cmoody@

Additional Contact: Bryan Stone, Vice President

Email: bstone@

Address and Title of Person Completing Report:

Rick Layne, Assistant Director, Workforce Development

Southeast Tennessee Development District

P.O. Box 4757

Chattanooga, TN 37405

Phone: 423/266-5781

Fax: 423/757-5491

Email: rlayne@

Section II. Workplan Objectives

Workplan objectives were established and refined to create a workforce organization that brings together people and resources from three states into a cohesive partnership to serve their natural economic and labor shed region, with the overarching premise that new strategies for talent development are critical for the region to remain competitive in the global marketplace. Additionally, the partnership recognized from inception that funding beyond traditional Workforce Investment Act funding streams would be essential to successfully transforming the workforce development delivery system in the region.

Goal One: Understand the economic composition of the Tri-State region by collecting and analyzing numerous demographic and economic indicator data elements.

Goal Two: Strengthen partnership by creating a plan to share and leverage resources to address the issues

• Inventory partners that are part of the regional partnership

• Identify partners that are needed for the success of the regional partnership

• Identify potential funding sources to complete regional skills assessment

• Create a plan for working together to support the needs of existing and future business

Goal Three: Formulate strategies for talent development to make the region more competitive

Measures of success in terms of completing goals will be determined primarily by timeline. Projected completion dates were determined and agreed upon by all partners. The Alliance is on schedule or ahead of the timeline for all goals, and no modifications to the initial workplan have been necessary to date.

The expected deliverables as a result of the partnership are:

• A report to the community on the region’s assets and potential will be delivered in the summer of 2007;

• A road map that brings systemic change by weaving economic development, workforce development and education into an engine that drives the local Tri-State economy;

• The region will have a marketing plan for business outreach and a website that lists services and information for the region;

• A new entity will be created – a demand-driven workforce organization that encompasses partners from all three states. Part of its charter will be to identify and obtain funding for the project.

• Public buy-in of the Tri-State Project, with a new awareness of the value of work skills and worker credentialing; and

• A new partnership structure that will clarify how the three areas will work together and share resources for the common good of the new economic vision.

Section III. Activities Description and Status

The organizations have engaged frequently during the time period. Numerous emails have circulated and numerous phone conversations have occurred. Conference calls were held on March 27 and 29 and May 22. The three learner organizations participated in the NBLP webinar hosted by USDOL on April 26.

A full meeting of all partners in the Tri-State Workforce Alliance was held in Rome, Georgia on May 24, with the next scheduled meeting set for August 23 in Alabama.

WorkSource, as the mentor organization, continues to make valuable contributions to the Alliance by assisting with data analysis, advice, and help in determining and focusing on next steps. The key partners in the project are looking forward to meeting in person again at the Workforce Innovations conference in July in Kansas City. Plans include discussing the site visit to the Tri-State region at which the WorkSource partners will share learning experiences, conduct a focus group of regional businesses to uncover needs for the system, and provide training to the leadership staff of the Tri-State Alliance in conducting future focus groups.

From mid-February through mid-April, the key partners in the Alliance were actively engaged in developing and writing a WIRED grant application in response to U.S. Department of Labor’s SGA for the Third Generation of WIRED funding. Even though the submission was not chosen for funding in current grant round, the partners have made significant progress in determining next steps to transform the region’s educational, economic development, and workforce development systems and are committed to moving forward to the extent possible absent specific funding or dedicated staff.

The Tri-State Alliance, as the learner organization, has been actively engaged in activities to strengthen the partnership and advance the agreed-upon goals as shown below:

|Date/Event |Result |Related Activities/Projects |

|March 15— |Buy-in of WIRED objectives from area | |

|Tri-State Alliance Leadership Team |foundations. | |

|holds joint meeting with Chattanooga | | |

|Area Chamber of Commerce and area | | |

|philanthropic organizations | | |

|Chattanooga, Tennessee | | |

|March 16— |Buy-in from local school systems, regional | |

|Tri-State Alliance Leadership Team |community colleges, technical training | |

|holds joint meeting with Chattanooga |institutions, and four-year universities on | |

|Area Chamber of Commerce and regional |WIRED objectives. | |

|community college and university | | |

|presidents and school superintendents | | |

|Chattanooga, Tennessee | | |

| | |April 13— |

| | |State of Tennessee submitted Generation 3 WIRED|

| | |application to USDOL on behalf of the Tri-State|

| | |Regional Workforce Alliance |

|April 23— |Dialogue with Ford Fund on best practices | |

|Tri-State Alliance holds joint meeting|for building sustainable Career Academy | |

|with Chattanooga Area Chamber of |communities. | |

|Commerce and representatives of the | | |

|Ford Motor Company Fund CAIC | | |

|Partnership | | |

|Chattanooga, Tennessee | | |

| | |May 1— |

| | |TriState Regional Workforce Alliance’s website,|

| | |developed by Northeast Alabama Community |

| | |College, goes live at |

| | |May 10— |

| | |Regional Newsletter, “The Business Informer” is|

| | |produced and distributed by the Coosa Valley |

| | |Regional Development Center |

|May 24— |Reports on Tri-State Alliance’s projects, | |

|Tri-State Regional Workforce Alliance |meetings, WIRED application, and initial | |

|Meeting |rollout of sectorial committees based on | |

|Rome, Georgia |targeted industry clusters | |

| | |June 17—18— |

| | |Tri-State Alliance leadership team staff |

| | |invited to attend the First Annual Ford Career |

| | |Academy Innovation Community Leadership |

| | |Institute in Louisville, Kentucky. |

Section IV: Challenges to Progress

Funding to carry out major projects has been the primary obstacle to accomplish major projects that the Alliance would like to contract. For example, a comprehensive region-wide audit is needed in order to obtain accurate information on labor market needs, employment trends, and employer expectations.

Section V. Promising Practices and Success Stories

In 2006, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce launched an education initiative that grew out of a need perceived by the business community for a more highly skilled labor force. Last fall Chattanooga was named the nation’s first Ford Career Academy Innovation Community (CAIC) as a result of the work of the Chamber and because area educators and community leaders are committed to implementing an action plan designed to increase the number of students who have access to successful career academies.

The Alliance believes that significant early-stage progress has been made in terms of addressing needed transformation of the educational systems, not just in Chattanooga, but throughout the region. While members of the Alliance have long been partnering with the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, connecting with the Chamber’s educational initiative did not occur until the Alliance began working on the WIRED application. The Chamber was instrumental in scheduling meetings with the area foundations, educational institutions, and Ford Fund representatives.

Those meetings led to inclusion of the key Alliance partners in the Ford Career Academy Leadership Institute in Louisville, Kentucky on June 17 and 18, at which the staff of the Chamber touted the regional partnerships that have been forged with the Alliance partners in Tennessee, Georgia, and Alabama. It is very clear that the work accomplished thus far and the level of organization demonstrated by the partners of the Tri-State Regional Workforce Alliance will be the key that allows regional dissemination and buy-in of the career academy concept.

The Ford Institute promotes best practices in establishing business and education partnerships for improvement of public education through successful career academy systems that meet the needs of business and industry in the 21st century. Participation in the Ford CAIC Leadership Institute advanced the partner’s collective abilities to identify themselves as a working unit of education, economic, and workforce development innovation and transformation members.

Other initiatives to transform the workforce and educational systems include plans to sponsor a Dropout Prevention Summit this fall, and using WIA funds to assist low income Juniors and Seniors to obtain their high school diploma along with technical certification from Northwestern (GA) Tech.

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