By Melissa Grothus
June 29, 2009

Mayors' workforce directors from across the country gathered in Providence June 12–13, for The U.S. Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council (WDC) Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with the 77th Annual Conference of Mayors Meeting.

WDC President, Kentuckiana Works Executive Director Michael Gritton, presided over the session, which focused on effective implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), specifically the Summer Jobs program, as well as green jobs training, Rhode Island's state/local youth partnership, sectoral employment strategies and policy recommendations.

The WDC kicked off the meeting by hosting the Mayors and Workforce Directors Breakfast entitled Creating and Managing Effective Summer Jobs Programs. The breakfast provided a forum for mayors and their local workforce directors to discuss strategies that have proven effective in providing youth with quality summer work experience.

WDC members also joined the mayors for the Green Today, Jobs Tomorrow — A Focus on Training the Green Collar Workforce workshop. This session showcased mayors who are embracing the green economy and have developed a successful and sustainable green training strategy.

"ARRA included $500 million to be used to support green jobs training," explained Gritton in his opening remarks. "This will be a ‘green jobs boot camp' for those interested in beginning preparation for these grant opportunities."

The WDC reconvened to continue its green jobs discussion. WDC Member Michael Holmes, Executive Director of the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment, presented on St. Louis' St. Patrick Center: Project GO! Green — winner of Wal-Mart's 2009 Green Jobs Training Initiative Grant. He explained how the partnership with a long'standing local homeless shelter helped to successfully establish The Go! Network, created this year to train professionals who have lost their jobs due to the current economic crisis in biofuels production and related fields.

WDC members then attended a site visit to the netWORKri Career Center. The Career Center is one of 13 youth centers geared at serving all youth in Rhode Island.

"The Rhode Island statewide youth vision seeks to serve all youth between the ages of 14-24 years at multiple entry points," explained Lori Norris, RI Department of Labor's Statewide Youth Services.

Norris outlined how the state and local workforce system partnered to develop a comprehensive workforce development system that serves "all youth," by removing the funding silos and working collaboratively. This effective system change allowed 15 times more youth to be served in the system from program year 2005. In 2008, 4,138 youth were served compared to a mere 253 in 2005.

WDC members also heard from Heather Singleton, Senior Vice President for Education at the RI Hospitality & Tourism Association. The Rhode Island Hospitality Association has made a serious commitment to the education of future career holders in the hospitality and foodservice industries. Their Education Foundation was formed with the purpose of encouraging individuals to embark on a career in the foodservice and hospitality industries.

"As one of states largest industries, there is no doubt that hospitality and tourism will play an increasingly important role in our states economy," explained Singleton.

With the growing economic crisis and increasingly high demands on the workforce development system, WDC members were briefed on the findings of Public/Private Ventures (PPV)'s Sectoral Employment Impact Study. This study assesses the effectiveness of sectoral initiatives which aim to help low-income people gain skills for particular industry sectors.

"Sectoral employment programs are exciting because of their potential to help not only workers, but also industries that are facing critical skills gaps, such as healthcare, advanced manufacturing and environmental or ‘green' industries," explained Sheila Maguire, Vice President for Labor Market Initiatives at PP/V. "As the economy recovers, there is only going to be more demand for workers skilled in these areas," she said.

This study has important policy implications, especially as Congress moves forward to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA).

WDC members concluded the meeting by discussing the Mayors Jobs, Education and the Workforce Standing Committee's newly adopted policies and how the WDC can assist in moving forward with policy implementation.