Over the last several months, there has been a flurry of activity in government-supported efforts focused on addressing the skills gap faced by manufacturing firms and other key S&T industries. The intent of these programs is to develop industry-led partnership that align workforce development efforts with the needs of specific local industries to unlock a region’s economic prosperity.  In July, two new initiatives were announced that may help provide a data-driven guide for these efforts in the future.

On August 10, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker signed an extensive economic development bill (HB 4569) into law.

The Department of Labor’s (DOL) Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announced the second phase of the ApprenticeshipUSA program – a $175 million national effort intended to help states and regions provide pathways for workers to acquire the skills and knowledge needed for good-paying jobs in fields such as information technology, healthc

With the U.S. facing an anticipated skills gap of two million manufacturing jobs by 2025, SME – a national manufacturing workforce development organization – launched the SME High School Membership program – a free online platform to “educate the next generation on the value of manufacturing and encourage careers in the field.” The new platform is the expansion of a pilot program that engaged more than 600 high school students via memberships, which included SME’s 16 PRIME (Partnership Response In Manufacturing Education) schools. Utilizing STEM Premier’s online platform, students can create a digital profile to showcase their skills and abilities; receive customized academic and career guidance; match up with $20 billion in scholarship opportunities; and, directly connect with colleges and companies looking to recruit.

The Employment Training Administration (ETA) released solicitations for a total of 12 ApprenticeshipUSA Single Industry Intermediary Contracts and ApprenticeshipUSA Multiple Industry Intermediary Contracts to become national ApprenticeshipUSA partners and have a leading role in the Sectors of Excellence in Apprenticeship (SEAs) in several key industries.

In June, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe announced that Virginia businesses can offer registered apprenticeships to individuals in three cybersecurity occupations – Information Security Analyst; Cyber Security Analyst; and, Incident Response Analyst. The Virginia Apprenticeship Council approved the three new registered apprenticeships as well as the criteria that registered apprentices in cybersecurity must learn and demonstrate through the program for the necessary proficiency in the cybersecurity field.

Skilled technology workers are gravitating toward cities where the cost of living is lower and more jobs are available, according to real estate research firm CBRE's annual Scoring Tech Talent report, a ranking of 50 U.S. and Canadian markets based on their perceived ability to attract and grow tech talent.

To drive state competitiveness and job creation, Indiana and Mississippi announced new efforts to engage regional institutions of higher education and other organizations to provide workers with the skills that match the needs of existing industry as well as attract new business and industry to their state. Through the Indiana Department of Workforce Development (DWD), the state will commit $22 million to fund industry-led regional partnerships aimed at aligning education and workforce needs. Mississippi Gov.

To build 21^st century workforces in key S&T sectors, several new public-private initiatives have been launched in South Carolina, New Jersey, Utah, and Montana. These initiatives are intended to better align the educational training of students with the needs of industries that each respective state has identified as a key industry cluster. Target industries include advanced manufacturing, aerospace, biotechnology, chemistry and plastics, and cyber security.

South Carolina

The Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it will commit up to $90 million for the newly established ApprenticeshipUSA initiative with the intent to double and diversify the number of apprenticeships by 2018. Through the ApprenticeshipUSA program, the DOL will coordinate efforts with industry and education leaders, nonprofits, and local governments to accelerate and expand state apprenticeship strategies and grow the use of apprenticeships in new industries.

A new report from the Lumina Foundation finds the U.S. is making progress in the number of Americans holding high-quality credentials beyond high school diplomas. For the seventh straight year, the percentage of the country’s working age population (age 25-64 years) with a quality post-secondary credential increased, reaching 45.3 percent in 2014. Even with the progress that has been made, however, the U.S.

Vice President Joe Biden announced a $100 million competition to expand tuition-free community college programs that connect young Americans to in-demand jobs. To support a growing trend of free community college programs, America’s Promise Job-Driven Training grants (America’s Promise Grants) will provide federal funding for the creation and expansion of regional and sector partnerships between community colleges, local industries, other training providers, employers, and, the public workforce system targeted at in-demand middle and high-skilled jobs across the country.

Kentucky and New Hampshire recently have announced job training initiatives to address the needs of key industries at both the local and state levels. The Kentucky Work Ready Skills Initiative, a $100 million statewide bond program, is intended to meet “the needs of employers and promote sustainable incomes for Kentuckians.” Meanwhile, the launch of New Hampshire’s Manufacturing Sector Partnership, a statewide collaboration for industries to address their workforce needs, was announced.

President Barack Obama signed the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) into law on July 22 – a federal-wide reform effort designed to help job seekers access employment, education, training, and support services to succeed in the labor market and to match employers with the skilled workers they need to compete in the global economy. WIOA is the first legislative reform in 15 years of the public workforce system.

The National Governor’s Association (NGA) announced that it will provide grants, technical assistance and opportunities to align education and training systems with private sector needs in 14 states. Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia have been selected to receive support to build industry and education partnerships and optimize their workforce-oriented incentives.

New partnerships are needed between the IT community, government and institutions of higher learning to help bridge the American skills gap, according to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST). In a letter to the president, PCAST notes that online solutions could provide people without secondary degrees with the training needed to fill high-demand IT jobs.

On September 28, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed SB 850 into law, which establishes a pilot-program that will allow 15 of the state’s community colleges to launch low-cost bachelor’s degree programs in vocational fields of high demand by state industries.

The Department of Labor (DOL) announced that it will award $450 million in job-driven training grants to nearly 270 community colleges across the country via the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training (TAACCCT) competitive grant program, which is co-administered by the DOL and Department of Education. The awards are to support community college-industry partnerships that will expand and improve education and career training programs offered at community colleges across the country.

In case you missed it, the midterm elections were on Tuesday, resulting in Republicans taking control of Congress, several new governors, and five states endorsing minimum wage increases.

The California Community College Board of Governors unanimously approved a comprehensive workforce development plan to coordinate efforts across its 113-college system to help California close its considerable job skills gap, which is defined as the state needing one million workers credentialed for middle-skill jobs.

The National Governors Association’s (NGA) Center for Best Practices launched the 2016 Policy Academy on Scaling Work-Based Learning – a pilot program in six states that blends work experience and applied learning to develop youth and young adults’ foundational and technical skills to expand their education, career and employment opportunities. The goal of the program is to connect 16- to 29-year-olds with middle-skills career opportunities in STEM-intensive industries such as advanced manufacturing, health care, information technology and energy.

Researchers from the Federal Reserve Banks of Kansas City and Atlanta, along with the John J Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, recently published a comprehensive examination of the state of contemporary workforce initiatives. Editors Carl Van Horn, Tammy Edwards and Todd Green have assembled chapters and case studies from more than 70 authors that depict challenges, long-term structural changes and policy opportunities in national, state and local workforce efforts in the current economy.

At more than 54 million, freelancers now make up more than one-third of the U.S. workforce, according to Freelancing in America 2015, an annual report commissioned by The Freelancers Union and Upwork. Half of all freelancers surveyed for the report said that, regardless of pay, they would not take a traditional job. Furthermore, 60 percent of respondents said that they were freelancing more by choice than by necessity, compared to 53 percent the previous year.

The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) announced approximately $100 million in grant funds for the TechHire partnership grant program. The ETA anticipates that it will make up to 35 grants to support  pilot and scale public-private workforce development partnerships that can rapidly train workers for and connect them to well-paying, middle- and high-skilled, and high-growth jobs across a diversity of H-1B industries such as Information Technology (IT), healthcare, advanced manufacturing, financial services, and broadband.

Although immigrants account for approximately one-fourth of U.S. science and engineering (S&E) employment, there have been relatively few academic studies published that discuss the link between these immigrants, who represent an increasing share of the U.S. workforce, and innovation in the United States. Through a broad investment from the Alfred P.