1. Industry Partnerships 101: What, Why, How and Impact
July 10, 2013
Part I of 3-Part EARN Maryland Webinar Series
Presented by Lindsey Woolsey

2. Ground Rules for the Live Webinar:
1) All participants are in listen-in mode.
2) To ask a question, please type it into the chat box to the right of your screen.
3) We will answer questions at the end of the presentation.
4) You can test that function now by introducing yourself in the chat box.
5) This a one hour webinar.
6) We will have a minute presentation and leave the remaining time to address the questions that you submit in the Chat Box.

4. Designs by

5. Today’s Industry Partnerships:
Are employer driven
Are regional
Are convened by a credible third party
Act as a coordinating body across multiple education, workforce development, economic development and other programs
Create highly customized responses to a target industry’s needs, and therefore highly accurate responses
They are about more than workforce training
Treat employers as partners, not just customers
Are NOT a grant program, a short term project, a passing fad; they are a long term partnership

6. THEY ARE DIFFERENT FROM:
Your local workforce investment board
Your regional or city economic development board
Your Chamber of Commerce
An industry association
Your Community College Advisory Boards

10. Why Industry Partnerships?
There is increasing debate about a skills mismatch in our economy: by 2020, nearly two out of every three U.S. jobs will require some postsecondary education and training, but 42% of adults in the U.S. (25-64) have no PSE credential.
64% of companies say they cannot find qualified applicants for management, scientific, engineering or technical positions.
-McKinsey Survey
67% of small and midsize manufacturers report moderate to severe workforce shortages, and they predict this will get worse not better.
-National Manufacturing Institute Survey
We are witnessing deep and long-term impacts from stagnant job growth: Jobseeker to job ratio in 2013 is still 3-to-1.
We must address these challenges with fewer resources: steady declines in investment since the eighties.
Federal employment and training expenditures (non-veteran) down.
Higher education enrollments/tuitions up; appropriations down.
CBO
Changes during recent years in the number of recipients of UI benefits: First-time payments rose from an average of about 8 million per year from 2004 through 2007 to over 14 million in 2009.
Federal spending on unemployment insurance: Annual outlays increased from an average of $33 billion from 2004 through 2007 to $119 billion in 2009 and $155 billion in 2010; they dropped to $93 billion in 2012 and we expect them to decline further over the next few years.
The effects of the UI system on households’ consumption, job searches, decisions about accepting new employment, and the economy: In CBO’s assessment, the increase in UI outlays during the past several years has raised consumer spending, output, and employment relative to what they otherwise would have been.
Options that the Congress considered for extending UI benefits, and
Alternative long-run policy approaches, including restructuring benefits to encourage employment, changing the roles of the federal government and state governments, and changing the way resources are allocated within the UI system.

11. What’s our response? EDUCATION, WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Education Historically: Train & Pray
Workforce Development
Economic Development

12. What’s our response? EDUCATION, WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Education Today: Career Pathways
Workforce Development
Economic Development

14. What’s our response? EDUCATION, WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Education Career Pathways
Workforce Development
Economic Development ?
Designs by

15. What’s our response? EDUCATION, WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Education Career Pathways
Workforce Development
Economic Development Historically: Business Attraction
Designs by

16. What’s our response? EDUCATION, WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Education Career Pathways
Workforce Development
Economic Development Today: Industry Clusters
Designs by

18. What’s our response? EDUCATION, WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Education Career Pathways
Workforce Development ?
Economic Development
Industry Clusters
Designs by

19. What’s our response? EDUCATION, WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Education Career Pathways
Workforce Development
Historically: Customized Business
Training + Job Matching
III. Economic Development
Industry Clusters
Designs by

20. What’s our response? EDUCATION, WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Education Career Pathways
Workforce Development
Today: Sector/Industry Partnerships
III. Economic Development
Industry Clusters
Designs by

21. Designs by

23. Workforce Training Inevitably is a Central Focus
Why? Because it’s always on the minds of business, in every industry
How is Industry Partnership Training different from “customized job training?”
Not a one-to-one relationship with an employer; it’s a relationship with the regional industry
There’s a give-and-take; you partner with employers
What level of training are we talking about?
All levels: it depends on the industry’s needs
But IP’s are a highly effective vehicle for low-income/ low-skilled worker advancement

26. Greater Metro Denver Healthcare Partnership, CO
Challenges:
Surging demand for HC services
Rapid facility expansion
Difficulty filling positions
Employers being asked by too many programs, councils, program staff to partner/help
Solution:
One Greater Metro HC Partnership
7 Major Hospital Systems
8 Educational Institutions
4 Economic Development Orgs
3 Workforce Investment Boards
Activities:
Narrowed highest priority need down from 145 different occupations to 4:
Nursing (ADN, RN, BSN)
Laboratory Technologists
Medical Laboratory Technicians
Surgical Technicians
5 New Education and training pathways to direct employment in middle-skilled, higher wage jobs
Impact:
Exceeded all training and placement goals
Single point of contact for industry
Pooled resources and expertise
Surprise by employers that they shared problems and that solutions better implemented as a group
Regular discussions about HC policy in region and state

27. Power Generation Skill Panel, WA
Convened by the Centralia Community College
Involves major power generation plants (coal, hydro,
and wind), plus major public utilities around the state
Key partners are Labor, community colleges, workforce Boards, and industry experts
Products include:
17 articulated “skills standards”manuals for key occupations
Shared purchase of OJT key curriculum
Revised apprenticeship program
Creation of hands-on training facility at an un-used nuclear power plant
“The Power Generation Skill Panel has effectively met the needs of employers, workers, and the training system through collaboration and focused work on critical issues.  By meeting the demand driven skills needs of industry we are all more competitive.”  --Bob Guenther, IBEW Local 77

28. Cochise Utilities Partnership, AZ
Problem: Sulphur Springs Valley Electric Cooperative (SSVEC) realized no local pool of skilled line workers
Cost: Recruiting from outside the area expensive, and relocating workers risky
College could not create a program for just one company – no economy of scale
Convener: SSVEC
Corporate partners: SSVEC, Sierra Southwest Cooperative, Apache Nitrogen Products, Southwest Gas, Valley Telecom, Cox Communications
Public partners: Southeast Arizona Workforce Connection, Cochise Community College
Outcomes:
New 1-year Utility Industry Certificate
Industry guest speakers and instructors
Company sponsored, for-credit internships
Shared job fairs across corporate partners
Company-to-company networking formerly non-existent
“Getting approached by a peer company was a breath of fresh air, someone who is actually a competitor. The resulting utility program and certificate would not have happened without that outreach. And there’s so much more to do.” – Elaine Babcock, HR Manager, Southwest Gas

29. The Green Alliance (Energy Efficiency, Renewable Energy Manufacturing), PA
J&J Mechanical, a small commercial HVAC company, quadrupled their employee base as a result of expanded connections to residential retrofitting needs
= 20 NEW JOBS
Maccabee Industrial, a steel fabricator, expanded product line to include windmill skeleton construction
= NEW PRODUCT LINE, 10 NEW JOBS
Gerome Manufacturing, steel fabricator, expanded wind mill parts production, added new product line to product brackets for construction of green buildings
= NEW PRODUCT LINE, 18 NEW JOBS
Therm-O-Rock East, Inc., manufacturer of vermiculite (material used to insulate batteries) discovered through the Partnership that the material could be used in retrofitting insulation, as well as in green soil for potted plants and gardens
= 2 NEW PRODUCT LINES, 20 NEW JOBS
Tri-State Biofuels, a small woodstove pellet manufacturer, connected with Marsalis Shale oil and gas drilling companies via the Partnership, researched uses of wood pellets as absorber of drilling waste, and invented a new product.
= NEW PRODUCT LINE, 25 NEW JOBS
= TRIPLED SAWDUST PURCHASES FROM LOCAL SAWMILLS
World Kitchen, formerly Corningware, now makes pyrex glass for solar panels.
Via Partnership networking, added new production line to meet regional demand
= NEW PRODUCT LINE
= 60 NEW JOBS
The Private Industry Council of Westmoreland-Fayette in western Pennsylvania convenes the Green Alliance Committee, an industry partnership focused on the energy efficiency sector. The partnership began IN 2010 with just eight employers, focused on the immediate training needs of solar, wind, and geothermal component parts manufacturing, and a growing commercial and residential retrofitting sector.
Wind, Solar, Geothermal and Building Retrofit focused
Group goals: Short term training, OJT, Screening
Within a year, employer members brought other employers to the table, and the number of companies involved grew to over 40. It is now an active sector partnership including elected officials, economic development from four counties, and local community colleges.
Its primary focus is training for new and existing workers, but the Committee is also directly supporting the growth of their region’s energy cluster. Private sector members report that the Committee’s value is its networking power. It is a forum for sharing, practical problem solving related to common issues of competitiveness, and joint policy creation.
Companies recruit other companies to participate. They have entered into shared purchasing agreements that reduce costs for local materials, thereby significantly increasing the market for local suppliers. Retrofitting companies have added new positions based on their ability to secure contracts for public retrofitting projects of schools and hospitals due to newly trained workers.
AT LEAST 153 NEW JOBS HAVE BEEN CREATED THAT CAN BE CORRELATED BACK TO THE NETWORKING POWER OF THE PARTNERSHIP. BIG DEAL.
* Launched in 2010, over 153 jobs created by Summer 2012

30. How many IPs should one region have?
Depends on your region’s labor market
Never duplicate IPs
Coordinate across geo-political lines
Actual boundaries of “region” may vary depending on target industry – be flexible
The State of Maryland should have multiple Healthcare IPs, Manufacturing IPs, Logistics IPs, etc.

31. Sector Strategies Coming of Age:
EDUCATION, WORKFORCE & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Education Career Pathways
Workforce
Development
III. Economic Development
Industry Clusters
Designs by

32. In Spokane, Washington, four active sector partnerships exist
In Spokane, Washington, four active sector partnerships exist. The Spokane Area Workforce Development Council convenes the Construction Industry Skill Panel. Greater Spokane Incorporated (the area’s Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council) convenes the Manufacturers Roundtable and the Healthcare Committee Skill Panels. Jointly, the Workforce Council and the Chamber convene a Clean Technology/Energy Efficiency Partnership. Each participate as core partners of each Skill Panel, in addition to the Spokane Area Community Colleges.
I Just found out that the Business Services Skill Panel, run by one of colleges, doesn't exist anymore, so the above is the latest rundown of who does what.

33. In Spokane, Washington, four active sector partnerships exist
In Spokane, Washington, four active sector partnerships exist. The Spokane Area Workforce Development Council convenes the Construction Industry Skill Panel. Greater Spokane Incorporated (the area’s Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council) convenes the Manufacturers Roundtable and the Healthcare Committee Skill Panels. Jointly, the Workforce Council and the Chamber convene a Clean Technology/Energy Efficiency Partnership. Each participate as core partners of each Skill Panel, in addition to the Spokane Area Community Colleges.
I Just found out that the Business Services Skill Panel, run by one of colleges, doesn't exist anymore, so the above is the latest rundown of who does what.

34. In Spokane, Washington, four active sector partnerships exist
In Spokane, Washington, four active sector partnerships exist. The Spokane Area Workforce Development Council convenes the Construction Industry Skill Panel. Greater Spokane Incorporated (the area’s Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Council) convenes the Manufacturers Roundtable and the Healthcare Committee Skill Panels. Jointly, the Workforce Council and the Chamber convene a Clean Technology/Energy Efficiency Partnership. Each participate as core partners of each Skill Panel, in addition to the Spokane Area Community Colleges.
I Just found out that the Business Services Skill Panel, run by one of colleges, doesn't exist anymore, so the above is the latest rundown of who does what.

35. WHAT’S THE LIFE CYCLE OF AN INDUSTRY PARTNERSHIP?
They can last for years
They change constantly
Each one looks different
But there are common elements

36. This slide created by Collaborative Economics, Inc.

37. Next Webinars:
Webinar #2: Wednesday, July 17th 1-2:00 pm Industry Data – How to identify (or confirm) your target industry
Webinar #3: Thursday, August 1st 1-2:00 pm Mobilizing your Partnership – Preparing for the Launch (or Expansion)

38. Questions Now?
Questions later? Contact me anytime: Lindsey Woolsey