1. Workforce Development
Vic Rodgers
Associate Provost, Workforce Development
Harrisburg Area Community College

2. The Core Components of Workforce Development
The State plan
Funding sources
Training providers
Participants
Partners, including non-profits
Business

3. What is “workforce development?”
Workforce development is just creative problem solving and spans the entirety of our communities. Some of the areas it addresses are:
How to help our elementary and middle schools interact with the career options in their areas

4. What is workforce development? continued
How to work with the high schools to ensure graduates are “college and career ready” by:
Working to tie them into internship opportunities
Working with the CTC’s to create an articulated pathway to industry credentials and post-secondary education
Broadening the training base for many area schools who do not have access to vocational/occupational training
Providing resources (through the WorkKeys program) for schools who are under resourced

5. What is workforce development? continued
Working with the chronically unemployed or underemployed to provide them both essential skills and skilled training and helping connect them to existing employment opportunities
Working with employers to assess their skills gaps and giving them the solutions to address not only their current needs, but filling their pipelines for the future

6. What is workforce development? continued
Working with economic development leadership in partnership to retain/attract businesses
The relevance for workforce development is that it is key to an economic developer’s efforts within a community. A strong partnership means a constant working relationship to find solutions and to integrate opportunities for both the community at large and the businesses which reside within those communities

7. Understanding Occupational Data
You can of course use this to focus your efforts for recruitment and to decide on where resources should be spent
It also can help you assess trends as it relates to demographics – especially age
EMSI data

8. The WorkKeys System Over 20 years of R&D
Validated by EEOC's 1978 Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures
Most advanced measure of workplace skills

9. Utilizes three components:
The WorkKeys System
Utilizes three components:
Job Analysis
Assessment
Training

10. Job Analysis
Uses observed and statistical data to categorize over 20,000 occupations
These categories are divided into one of four sections
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Platinum
Numerically, these are categorized as 3, 4, 5 & 6

11. Example Occupations for CRC Holders

13. NCRCs Issued Nation Wide
Leading States:

14. Utilization & Results WorkKeys - Mid American Energy Des Moines, IA
Using WorkKeys as an effective, validated, pre-employment assessment tool for entry-level skilled positions
Overall turnover for meter readers has dropped 83%

15. Utilization & Results WorkKeys - Bradner Village
Health Care Center in Marion, Indiana
Used WorkKeys provided by local One Stops
Reduced training cost by 96%
Reduced turnover by 37%
Saved 75% of time previously spent in applicant screening

16. Recruitment and Retention
Some key points:
With the low unemployment numbers, those who have the skills are already working
The normal demographics which have been the core workforce has shifted; new strategies are required to attract a different workforce
WEDnet is available

17. The Role of Higher Ed Community Colleges:
Career and technical training
Act as a partner for workforce development initiatives
Create a pathway for articulated career clusters
Provide innovative solutions for business
Provide a less expensive start to a 4-year degree

18. New Initiatives S.T.E.P Harrisburg Promise Apprenticeship programs
Working with local high schools
WorkKeys across the Commonwealth

19. SUMMARY
I hope this has given you a better understanding of workforce development and how it ties into economic development at several levels. Regional and local economic development needs to be an active partner in the workforce initiatives within their scope of responsibility because the workforce is becoming a prime driver of business and industry.
V. Rodgers