Cleveland Fed: Use Sector Partnerships to Address Employment Needs

Opportunities for successful workforce development partnerships exist across a variety of industries and geographies, according to a recently released report from the Community Development Department at the Cleveland Fed.  The report, Addressing Employment Needs through Sector Partnerships, includes five case studies from throughout the Federal Reserve’s Fourth District, which contains Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Kentucky, the panhandle of West Virginia and all of Ohio. Although sector-based initiatives have been around for quite some time, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, whose final regulations became publicly available in June 2016, places a strong emphasis on aligning education and job training with employer needs, according to the report’s authors Kyle Fee, Matt Klesta, and Lisa Nelson.

Using numerous interviews to conduct their research, each case study highlights how initiatives are structured and operated so that they identify and meet the needs of both employers and jobseekers. The case studies are:

• Addressing the Needs of Health Care Employers: Tri-County Health Care Industry Partnership;
• Building a Pipeline of IT Talent in Northeast Ohio: Regional Information Technology Engagement (RITE);
• Preparing for Careers in Advanced Manufacturing: West Central Ohio Manufacturing Consortium;
• Navigating Employer Needs: Skills for Life Marine Mechanics Training Program; and,
• Transitioning Workers from Coal to Other Careers: Hiring Our Miners Everyday (HOME) Program.

The report can be downloaded here: https://www.clevelandfed.org/en/newsroom-and-events/publications/special-reports/sr-20160815-addressing-employment-needs-through-sector-partnership.aspx