2.6.09 Alliance Brief

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Linking and Leveraging to Build a Regional Talent Development Network

301 W. Wisconsin Ave., Ste. 300 Milwaukee, WI 53203 414.905.0105 www.milwaukee7-rwa.org

The Alliance BriefFebruary 6, 2009

RWA Summit

Thank you to everyone who participated in the RWA Summit on January 29, 2009. Over 75 membersrepresenting educational institutions, private business, workforce development boards, community-basedorganizations, WIRED grant recipients, our Steering Committee and Leadership Team members, as wellas local elected officials from the M7 counties convened for the three hour event.

The event was designed to give attendees an overview of the RWA and to convey the importance of regionalism as it concerns building the talent development network. Highlights included the followingguest speakers:

Pat OBrien, Executive Director of the Milwaukee 7, began the event with an overview of the M7and their current focus in the current economic climate.Rich Meeusen, Chair, President, and CEO of Badger Meter, Inc., offered a stirring regional call toaction through the example of the success of the Water Council as well as the Disney analogy.Ed Morrison, from the Center for Regional Development at Purdue University, provided regionalexamples of transformation from a national perspective.A panel discussion that featured WIRED grant recipients: Laura Bray, Menomonee ValleyPartners, Inc.; Doug DeVinny, UW-Parkside; Van Walling, Engineers & Scientists of Milwaukeeand STEM7, and Gregory Williams, Wisconsin Community Services.

Rich Meeusen, Badger Meter, Inc. and Carla Rutley, Milwaukee Women, Inc.at the RWA Summit on January 29, 2009

The attending members were also able to contribute their ideas to the task force groups during thediscussion break-out session. The outcome of the various discussion groups is featured in a separatearticle in the Brief. The event closed with a discussion about the forthcoming Federal Economic StimulusPackage and what that means for the workforce development our region.

Overall, the Summit afforded an opportunity for all components of the talent development network toconvene and collaborate. For more details on the event including the power point presentations, photos,as well as videos of the event (coming soon), visit our website at: www.milwaukee7-rwa.org .


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Priority Project Task Force Discussion Groups Feedback

The following is a brief update from three of the discussion sessions at the RWA Summit on January 29,2009. All task force leaders/table discussion leaders reported that the feedback that was generated as aresult of the discussions was extremely beneficial. This update will include a summary of the tablediscussions as well as any action items that were generated. The remaining three discussion sessionswill be featured in the next Alliance Brief.

Grant Development Protocol

The purpose of our discussion group was to determine how to best implement the Grant DevelopmentProtocol in the region. The group expressed an interest in pro-actively planning projects and thenseeking funds. No action was taken during this discussion group. Over the past three months severaldiscussion groups have convened including during the November, 2008 RWA All Committee Meeting,subsequent meetings with technical colleges and workforce development boards, and the January 2009RWA Summit. Each discussion group expressed an overall agreement that the Grant DevelopmentProtocol should be implemented. However, the group could not come to a consensus when it came todetails of infrastructure and implementation.

Key decision makers from the four technical colleges, three workforce development areas, and seveneconomic development entities will meet to discuss the organization's official view regarding the GrantDevelopment Protocol.

Contact Angela Cummings at [email protected] for more information on how you can assist thistask force group.

Catch & Refer of Non-Hires

This group is charged with exploring a regional approach to developa referral network for unqualified applicants instead of sending thetraditional rejection letter. The group agreed to move forward with theidea making more contact with employers and business organizations.The purpose of the contacts would be to gain more input about thefeasibility of the idea and gain more support for implementation.

The group established the following talking points during theemployer contact:

1) To stress the importance of making an organized effort toincrease the work preparation of the labor force.

2) To assess and evaluate the work preparation of the unemployed labor force by utilizing theservices of Job or Workforce Development Centers in our region.

3) Employers can assist in developing the work preparation of the unemployed labor force byreferring people not hired to the Job or Workforce Development Center in their region .

John Milisauskas leads this task force and can be reached at [email protected].

(l to r) Linda Stephens, Rene OConnor, and JohnMilisauskas from the Kenosha County Job Center.


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Skills Assessment

The responsibility of this task force is to identify the commonlanguage needed to create a widely-recognized credential to showthe skill level of high school graduates.

The Executive Summary of the Work Skills Assessment Projectwas distributed to the attendees of this discussion group. Thesummary included: the criteria for consideration and the processto engage, employers, educator and workforce professionals;summaries of the three instruments under consideration - WorkKeys,NOCTI, and CASAS; and a summary of next steps from the Work Skills Assessment Summit.

There was quite a bit of a discussion as to the need for such an instrument and a question why a HighSchool Diploma/ GED was not a sufficient indicator of work readiness. There was also interest toassure engagement and buy-in from a broad range of employers across all the sectors of occupationaldemand in the region as an affirmation that this be employer driven. This task force hopes to completethe employer validation by mid-February 2009 with a final recommendation for a demonstrationproject by mid-March 2009.

Contact Dick Buschmann at [email protected] for more details on the development of this task force group.

Stimulus Package Task Force Summary

At the Regional Workforce Alliance Summit held on January 29, 2009, the RWA announced theformation of a stimulus package planning task force. The group will develop a plan for preparing theSoutheastern Wisconsin workforce to acquire jobs that will be most in demand. Likely topics of discussion are:

Projects - what types of projects are likely to be funded?Occupations - what types of jobs are likely to be created?Competencies/Skills - what types of skills will the new jobs require?

Workforce Competencies - what types of skills does the available workforce possess?Training - what types of training opportunities exist to develop in-demand skills?Other Resources - what are they - how to leverage?Communication/Coordination

If you'd like to participate, please contact Pat Adrian at 262-695-8047 or [email protected].

Dick Buschmann (l) from MATC and MAWIBand Joseph Weitzman from WCTC.


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Priority Project Update: Competency Study

Officially titled Competency Study of Driver Occupations, the task force was charged with developinga proposal about how to undertake a competency study that examines the demand-side environment of southeastern Wisconsin.

The task force looked at similar studies from across the United States and designed an approach andmethodology steps that would produce results to give an accurate picture of regional employer needs.Understanding employer needs is important, but it is only a foundational part of a larger effort. The

purpose of the study is to provide a comprehensive view of the demand-side (employers/businesses)workforce needs, articulated as knowledge, skills and abilities. The study results will serve as the basisfor a gap analysis and remediation effort of another priority project team, Talent Contribution byEducation.

Although many regional studies exist that contain pieces of the competency study information, nonecontains the comprehensive view articulated by the task force:

Very few contain information for northern IllinoisData currency varies across the studiesKnowledge of current job openings is slimNo study addresses the competency focus

As a result, the task force recommendation is to undertake a two-pronged approach to a competencystudy. One effort would leverage the work of the Milwaukee 7/Deloitte study and focus on thecompetency portion of the plan, getting employer participation and feedback as early as possible. Thiseffort provides a quick win, taking advantage of Water Council business contacts, UWM surveyexpertise and employer contact planning from the Common Vocabulary/Skills Assessment team.Learning early lessons about the employer view of competency needs enables a sharper focus onsuccessive feedback efforts. The second (parallel) effort would conduct the entire study. By running thetwo efforts concurrently, the wider view across all regional industries and occupations can provide timelyand actionable results (at the competency level) to other Regional Workforce Alliance priority projectteams.

The Steering Committee recently approved funding to commence the study. Look for periodic updates in

the future as the study progresses.


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RWA in the News

After the RWA Summit, Ed Morrison was interviewed for a local radio program on WUWM. To listen tothe interview please follow the link below.

http://www.wuwm.com/programs/news/view_news.php?articleid=4143

Ten Cities for Job Growth in 2009

Positive workforce news, in this economy? In January 2009, the website for Forbes Magazine publishedan article listing the top ten cities for job growth this year. While Madison landed the top position,Milwaukee was ranked fifth on the list of cities that are hiring. To read the full article including the factorsused to rank the cities, follow the link below.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/05/cities-jobs-employment-leadership-careers-cx_tw_0105cities.html

The Office of Recovery and Reinvestment

Governor Doyle has recently created the Office of Recovery and Reinvestment. This office was createdto quickly move federal stimulus funds to create jobs for the hardworking people of Wisconsin. For moreinformation on the Office, follow the link below:

http://www.recovery.wisconsin.gov/index.asp?locid=164

*regionalism \r j-n -li-zm, r -j -n -li-\

A move to foster or protect an indigenous culture in a particular

region. This may be a formal move, made by the state as it creates administrative or planning regions, or an informal move for some degree of independence arising from a gut feeling, based on territory, of a minority group.

*Geography definition from ask.com.

Documents

2.6.09 Alliance Brief