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Industry Partnerships Sector Strategies - Planning

Second (2nd) Round

Request for Proposals

Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet and

Kentucky Workforce Investment Board

March 30, 2012  

 

 

 

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Industry Partnerships – RFP 2Nd Round March 30, 2012 Issuance

Table of Contents

Overarching Principles iii

Part I – Overview 1

Part II – RFP Purpose and Industry Partnerships Defined

2

Characteristics of Effective Industry Partnerships 2-3

Part III – Eligible Applicants 3

Characteristics of Effective Lead Applicant 4

Characteristics of an Effective Fiscal Agent 4

Part IV – Application Content Plan Proposal Criteria for Scoring 5

Section I through Section VI 5-6

Part V – Notice of Funding Availability Requirements

Technical Assistance, Reports, Evaluation and Disallowable Costs

7-8

Part VI – Guidance and References Proposal Scoring Metric/Matrix and Checklist 9

Formatting and Submission Requirements 10

Definitions 11

Resources 12

Appendices Appendix A – The Standard Form for Application for Federal Funds

13-14

Appendix B – Budget Summary Form 15

Appendix C – Budget Narrative Form 16

Identification Page for Appendices D through G 17

Appendix D – Industry Partnership Roster 18-19

Appendix E – Industry Partnership Timeline 20

Appendix F – A Sustainability Plan Guideline - Optional 21

Appendix G – Additional Supporting Documents – Optional

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Overarching Principles of Industry Partnerships

The WORKSmart Kentucky strategic plan established by the Kentucky Workforce Investment Board (KWIB) should serve as a basis for Industry Partnership (IP) activities and plans. Industry Partnership plans should address critical and relevant components as outlined in this guidance. These principles reflect:

strategic assistance to businesses, strategic assistance to workers, institutional alignment and long-term systemic change, and coordinated governance and sustainability.

Below are illustrations of how some of these principles might be reflected in the IP proposals that:

Strengthen relationships between small and mid-sized suppliers and their

corporate buyers.

Demonstrate short and long-term strategies enhancing recruitment and retention of minorities and women, especially for those industries where they are underrepresented. Programs in this area could be linked with strategies that improve chances for extended employment of new recruits.

Focus on assisting low wage workers, particularly current or former TANF clients, to advance into better paying jobs and careers.

Bring together multiple local workforce investment boards in a consortium to address workforce issues in an industry cluster.

Work to identify replicable career pathways within or across clusters.

Address the need for certification and credentialing for high priority occupations, including but not limited to credit bearing courses and articulation agreements between educational providers.

Work to develop and implement human resource practices, in addition to training, that aim to increase retention and opportunities for career advancement.

Collaborate with local and regional economic development partners in assessing workforce skill needs and business recruitment initiatives.

Combine and take the form of a regional partnership within an industry cluster. (This encourages Local Workforce Investment Board (LWIB) collaboration of proposals from two or more regions.)

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Part I – Overview In 2011, the Commonwealth of Kentucky’s key targeted industry sectors were identified through the Kentucky Workforce Investment Board’s (KWIB) Sector Strategies Initiative. This was a data-driven process, with detailed industry analysis and supplemented by stakeholder expertise. Stakeholder representatives included: Local Workforce Investment Boards (LWIBs), Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), Cabinet for Economic Development/Office of Commercialization and Innovation, and the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet. Kentucky’s Sector Strategy approach included, among a host of variables, an analysis of data on historical growth, projections of future industry needs, industry concentration, industry competitiveness, export orientation, job multiplier effects, earnings multiplier effects, industry average wage, and workforce compatibility. A complete report on this initiative is available at www.kysectorstrategies.com. The five Kentucky statewide sectors are:

1) Automobile/Aircraft Manufacturing 2) Transportation, Distribution and Logistics 3) Business Services and Research & Development 4) Health Care/Social Assistance 5) Energy Creation/Transmission

“Kentucky’s Unbridled Future”, the Strategic Economic Development Plan released in January 2012 identified five strategic business/industry sectors:

1) Advanced Manufacturing 2) Sustainable Manufacturing 3) Technology –Life Sciences and Data Centers 4) Transportation – Distribution and Logistics 5) Healthcare – Healthcare Services

Additionally, Kentucky’s ten (10) regional local workforce investment areas have identified their regional key industry target sectors. Regional target sectors are aligned with the needs of the various Kentucky regions and set out the various industry and future needs of these regional approaches at growing an economy and building/developing human capital. Local Workforce Investment Area contacts may provide additional links to a range of resources. The Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development 2012 Strategic Economic Development Plan, “Kentucky’s Unbridled Future” (project documents), lists the economic development strategic business/industry sectors and the priorities to attract, develop and retain business. The Commonwealth will seek to align both the WORKSmart Kentucky and the Kentucky Unbridled Future strategic initiatives in an effort to meet the goals and approaches offered by both planning documents.

NOTE: Definitions of terms are defined in Part VI, page 11 of this Request for Proposal

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Part II – RFP Purpose & Industry Partnerships Defined The purpose of this RFP is to assist the Commonwealth in fostering and promoting the use of industry-led, state and/or regionally defined sector-focused partnerships that will respond to employer needs and build and shape the workforce. An industry partnership is a multi-employer collaborative effort that brings together management teams, associations, organizations and labor around the common purpose of improving the efficiency of a sector of companies or organizations producing similar products or services and sharing similar supply chains, critical human resource needs, infrastructure requirements, business services and/or retention/recruitment challenges. The purpose of supporting/enhancing current partnerships is to identify common resources for particular sectors of industries that provide good wages and benefits, which have the greatest potential for economic growth, and/or which face serious challenges to growth or retention. By bringing together employers, their workers and their respective representatives and community partners, the public sector can better align education and training resources in response to the demands of employers. The planning and development of career pathway structures for each targeted business/industry sector holds promise for the local and regional workforce as educational resources attempt to meet the supply needs of employers. Industry partnerships are a particular kind of “workforce intermediary”. As such, the local workforce investment boards are a required partner for funding under this announcement. Many Industry Partnerships may have been in existence for some time or may have been recently established or reorganized. However, they must meet the definition of an Industry Partnership at the time of the proposal submission.

Characteristics of Effective Industry Partnerships Below are some illustrations of IP activities and best practices:  

A partnership of sector businesses may assess and determine training needs and skill gaps critical to sector competitiveness and innovation. Strategies may include the assessment and/or determination of:

Specific sector industry needs adequately assessing sector industry actions;

Challenges facing the sector industry as a whole;

Employers’ infrastructure dynamics supply chain, limitations;

Current resources/services available;

Additional information and resources needed to address gaps in the understanding of the industry; and

Types of available communication networks between firms, managers, and workers in the sector.

Sector business partnerships may facilitate, collaborate or coordinate with sector industries in the region to address the issues of business contraction and business expansion that impact the training, support, and education needs of workers. Strategies may include:

Data collection and reporting that address the targeted needs;

Efficient communication plans to promote public awareness, recruitment efforts across the region and efficient administrative processes;

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New career ladders or career pathways within and across companies, enabling entry-level workers to improve skills to advance into higher skill, higher wage jobs;

New industry credentials that provide companies confidence in the skills of new hires and provide workers more mobility; and

Best practices dissemination.

Sector business partnerships may provide guidance and support to help educational and training institutions to align their curriculum and specific programs toward unique and specific industry demand, particularly for higher skill occupations. Strategies may include:

Collaboration with Kentucky Career Centers, youth councils, business-education partnerships and parents and career counselors and facilitate bringing employers together to address the challenges of connecting youth to careers;

Companies identifying and working together to address common organizational and human resource challenges – recruiting new workers, retaining incumbent workers, implementing high-performance work organization, adopting new technologies and fostering experiential on-the-job learning; and

Identification of barriers to entry level employment for workers and youth, and the development of a plan to remediate those barriers.

A partnership of sector businesses could initiate a new learning collaborative, establish Centers of Excellence, or over a period of time, establish a joint economic development activity. Partnerships may also foster and promote:

Collaboration across regions and across state shared borders

An increase in human capital through recruiting/developing the workforce of the future

Innovation and technology

Improved partnerships between research universities and business/industry

Development of local and regional entrepreneurial activities

Part III - Eligible Applicants

Eligible applicants are Industry Partnerships with one (1) designated Lead Applicant for each targeted sector. The following are the entities (at time of application), who are considered an eligible applicant:

o Economic development authorities or agencies (including entities such as the Office of Commercialization and Innovation and/or its affiliates), or

o Industrial development authorities and corporations, or o Non-profit organizations or associations serving as regional or local workforce intermediaries, o Business consortia, associations and/or organizations, including entities such as chambers of

commerce, or o Organized labor, or o Labor/management partnerships, or o Intra-regional or inter-state partnerships, or o Single or a consortium of LWIBs.

The Industry-led partnership will, at a minimum:

o Clearly represent one of the above lead applicant entities for the Partnership;

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o Complete and submit the proposal response per the guidelines of this RFP; o Clearly identify the state or regional targeted industry sector; o Identify the current Industry Partnership members, including the ten (10) required current industry

sector employer partners committed to this IP proposal and the LWIB serving as the grant’s fiscal agent. A chart for listing IP members, including current industry sector employer partner members and contact information is provided and must be completed in the response (Appendix D-Tech 1).

o Include a letter from the participating Local Workforce Investment Board that includes confirmation to: Agreement to serve as the fiscal agent for the entire grant. This will ensure collaboration and alignment with other regional initiatives; (See Part V, “Notice of Funding Availability Requirements”). LWIBs will serve as the fiscal agent for grant funds and will work with the lead applicant and Office of Employment and Training in all monitoring, tracking, and compliance requirements; and support the proposal.

o Ensure that as the lead applicant, no person or organization involved in partnership management and/or coordination, may seek reimbursement for training services that they provide (the costs of these services may be applied as matching or in-kind funds). Any training involved with this planning grant must be provided by an organization or individual who is unaffiliated with the lead applicant or any person or organization involved in partnership management and/or coordination.

o Embrace regionalism in the approach to the partners and the goals of the Industry Partnership. o Create a regional initiative focused on sustainability. o Assess the value and application of regional internship programs. 

Characteristics of an Effective Lead Applicant Existing entities referenced above should be knowledgeable or experienced in working with the targeted state or regional sector. The lead applicant must be capable of bringing together multiple partners to achieve the overall plan goals, including but not limited to:

o Coordination of the design of the plan; o Development of an appropriate budget; o Collection of performance management measures; o Coordination of the activities of the plan. o Identification of public and private resources available for workforce development relevant to the

work being proposed by the partnership; o Development of a plan to access those resources on behalf of the partnership; o Draft/Development of a strategic plan; and o Collaboration with the participating LWIB and OET.

Characteristics of an Effective Fiscal Agent The fiscal agent for the Industry Partnership fund must be able to successfully manage the funds distribution, subcontracts, deliverables, invoicing, payroll and other administrative, outreach and reporting through the life of the award. The following are required functions of the fiscal agent:

o Maintains a financial management and reporting system with appropriate internal controls for accurate, current and complete disclosure for the financial results for functions/services provided under the Partnership;

o Provides oversight of all subcontracts; o Provides accounting records that are supported by source documentation; o Responsible for monitoring of the funds and activities under the award; o Demonstrates procedures for determining reasonableness, and allowability of OMB Circulars A- 87,

A-122, and A-133. o Capability to collect information/data for report submission to Office of Employment and Training

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Part IV– Application Content Industry Partnership proposals should provide both comprehensive background data and strategies to support the Industry Partnership. An ultimate goal for the proposal is to develop/draft a strategic plan for the IP. The proposal should address the components outlined under the Characteristics of Effective Industry Partnerships in Part II. The applicant must present a clear and well-conceived overall approach to the plan, including details, demonstrating how it will be implemented in a way that will achieve the plan's goals and objectives. A detailed approach to developing a strategic plan should provide sufficient detail for a reviewer to clearly understand how each aspect of the proposed plan will be implemented. The Partnership proposal should outline, discuss or illustrate, to the extent practical or necessary, the activity plans, and the details of the implementation processes. Partnerships must complete each of the following sections in the listed numerical format. All information supplied should be relevant to the current, operating structure of the IP. Partnerships are encouraged to review the Kentucky Sector Strategy Toolkit, the Pennsylvania Industry Partnerships website, and other available relevant state and federal resources, as well as those from reliable, current associations and national organizational entities dedicated to Industry Partnership development.

PLAN PROPOSAL CRITERIA FOR SCORING Section I. Proposal Summary and Details (25 points)

1) Provide an Executive Summary (2-3 paragraphs) 2) Provide a brief description of the proposed Industry Partnership planning process and include:

a) the scope of work and the activities and /work arrangements required to develop the IP plan; b) proposed deliverables and the final intended results of the work to be performed; and c) future activities that will lead to the sustainability of the IP Plan.

Section II. The Industry Partnership Demographics and Data Compilation/Analysis (75 points) This section should include a detailed description of the characteristics of the Partnership Region including:

1) An evaluation of the industries critical to the local economy; 2) Detailed information on specific occupational needs within the industry

a) skill gaps analyses; b) location quotient for the region; and c) career opportunities in the targeted sector throughout the region;

3) Driven by the sector strategy of the partnership, describe factors that contribute to the following: a) industry growth: how much, the impact on the sector; b) workforce dynamics: aging, data, demographics, needs; c) emerging career fields: categories, salary structures, wage compression, career

pathways/ladders; and d) levels of technological advances across industry partners: types, impact on employment across

the region, and changes to the dynamics of types of available human capital.

Section III. Description of the Current Partnership (75 points) 1) The mission, vision and goals of the regional partnership; 2) Partner members and stakeholder contributions to the sector partnership including the type of

employer partners currently participating (products, small/medium/large employer). This

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description is in addition to the required chart in Appendix D-Tech 1. 3) Capacity building and Partnership recruitment strategies for existing and new employers, worker representatives or other stakeholders; 4) Previous activities or other funded initiatives (if any), undertaken by the partnership and any reports/results; 5) Planned or existing organizational structure:

a. organizational chart b. decision making process

6) Marketing and outreach activities a. frequency of meetings, and b. proposed communication strategies with the regional or community partners.

Section IV. Sector’s Employers’ and Employees’ Needs (100 points) This section should briefly describe key elements of the plan and how these elements incorporate employers’ and workers’ needs as well as the demands of the workplace. At a minimum, the proposed plan should describe how the IP will:

1. Assess the needs of employers and employees to support a talent pipeline; 2. Develop career pathway and advancement strategies; 3. Support the sustainability of the partnership; and 4. Address the anticipated implementation of the activities and strategies.

Section V. Anticipated Outcomes: Describe the anticipated impact of the Plan on the Sector Industry

(100 points) 1) Discuss the planned quantitative outcomes as developed in the plan. How and in what manner will

these quantitative outcomes be measured? 2) Discuss the planned qualitative outcomes as developed in the plan, and how and in what manner will

these qualitative outcomes be measured?

Section VI. Proposal Should Include a Narrative of Proposed Integration/Alignment to Workforce Investment Initiatives and the Cabinet for Economic Development’s Strategic Plan (50 points)

Please provide a brief narrative/description of how the partnership:

1) Coordinates activities or collaborates with the following regional workforce partners/providers: a. Kentucky chambers of commerce; b. Economic development agencies; c. Kentucky Adult Education; d. Kentucky Council on Post-Secondary Education; e. Kentucky Community and Technical College System campuses/initiatives; and f. Other local and regional associations, organizations or foundations; g. Other states’ cross-border regional partnerships.

2) Connect to the WORKSmart Kentucky strategic plan; and 3) Aligns with the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development Strategic Plan, Kentucky’s Unbridled Future (project documents).

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Part V - Notice of Funding Availability Requirements

The grant award will be $5,000 to $65,000 per proposal.

The funding period for the grant is one year from the time of the award, which is anticipated to be by mid-June 2012.

A LWIB will serve as the fiscal agent for grant funds and will work with the lead applicant in all monitoring, tracking, and compliance requirements.

Partnerships that have a remaining fund balance at the end of the grant period shall be required to return funds to the Agency.

EWDC/OET will provide guidance and information on grant fund distribution to awardees.

Each proposal must reflect the targeted sector/sectors within which the Partnership seeks to work.

Funding is available for multiple LWIBs who partner with one another, where the total amount may exceed the award size stated above.

One (1) LWIB must be specified as the fiscal agent, even if the proposal is submitted on behalf of multi-WIBs.

Multi LWIB proposals are encouraged, as they promote regional workforce development strategies.

LWIBs and/or Lead Applicants may submit multiple proposals.

Technical Assistance  

Technical Assistance During Grant Development:

An informational meeting to provide program overview, technical assistance and opportunities for proposers to ask questions will be tentatively scheduled for the week of April 16, 2012. Notification for such meeting will be posted on the KWIB website.

The Industry Partnership Coordinator and experienced staff will be available to take questions related to this grant during regular business hours and via email.

Frequently asked questions and their responses will be posted to the Industry Partnership page on the KWIB website. (www.kwib.ky.gov)

Technical Assistance During The Life of the Grant Award:

Education and Workforce Development cabinet staff will provide an array of technical assistance opportunities and forums throughout the life of the grant for both awardees and all other proposers. Technical assistance will be in the form of:

o selected webinars, o conference calls, o field trips, o guest speakers, o best practices from other states, o LiveMeeting/MeetNow focused exchanges over secure Microsoft Outlook systems, o shared resource pages, and o applicable research on other related initiatives/approaches.

 

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Reports The awardee is required to provide quarterly reports and other documents to the Industry Partnership Coordinator. LWIBs are mandated partners and serve as the fiscal agent for all Industry Partnership grants, and as such are required to review, approve and coordinate the submission of these reports to the IP coordinator. All records shall be made available for review to Department of Workforce Investment staff. Quarterly and Year-end Reports and similar reports must be submitted to the LWIB for timely submission to the Industry Partnership Coordinator or funding may be suspended. Report formats and instructions will be provided to awardees.

Evaluation Applications must include a statement that applicants are willing to collect partner data (including Federal Employer Identification Number (FEIN) of participating companies). An additional statement should indicate that the lead applicant is willing to participate in a third-party evaluation by providing data and access for interviews, and by participating in networking with other partnerships. (The evaluation process will be designed in collaboration with grantees to ensure that it does not impose an unreasonable burden on participating firms and to maximize opportunities for learning that benefit partnership members.) Awardees may also be invited to serve as part of state and national learning collaborative on innovation and sector-based workforce development.

Disallowable Costs and Activities

Although the proposed Industry Partnership plan may contain some of these elements, the grant award cannot be used to pay for the costs associated with items below. However, additional partnering agencies and programs may assist with some of the provisions related to a comprehensive training plan or business strategy as well as leveraging resources for in-kind services or supports. The following are costs that shall not be covered under any part of the funding for this Industry Partnership Proposal:

Equipment or building construction Support lease or rental cost of building Website development or maintenance Indirect fees Administrative costs in excess of 5% Indirect costs – costs that have been incurred, for common or joint objectives and cannot be

readily identified with a particular final cost objective Projects cannot violate any conditions of a collective bargaining agreement

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Part VI – Guidance and References

Proposal Scoring Metric/Matrix and Checklist The following metric is a breakdown of the Parts of this Industry Partnership Proposal that will be scored/required based on content, accuracy, and completeness or required inclusion.

Partnership Plan Program Proposal Criteria – Part IV – Application Content

Section Number/Title Points possible for this section

Section I. Plan Summary and Details 25

Section II. Industry Partnership Demographics and

Data Compilation/Analysis

75

Section III. Description of the Current Partnership 75

Section IV. Sector’s Employers’ and Employees’ Needs 100

Section V. Projected Outcomes – Impact on the Sector Industry 100

Section VI. Plan Integration with Workforce Investment Initiatives 50

Total points possible for Part IV 425

NON-Scored Materials/Documentation Required

Partnership Plan Cost Proposal Criteria – Part VI – Required Cost Proposal Documentation

Application Form for Federal Funds Y/N

Budget Summary Form Y/N

Budget Narrative Required Format Y/N

NON-Scored Materials/Documentation Required 

Partnership Plan Technical Proposal Criteria – Part VIII – Required Technical Proposal Documentation

Tech – 1: Industry Partnership Member Roster Y/N

Tech – 2: Industry Partnership Timeline Y/N

NON-Scored Materials/Documentation Optional 

Partnership Plan Proposal Additional Documentation - Optional

Tech – 3: Sustainability Plan Y/N

Tech – 4: Additional Supporting Documents – Letters of Support Y/N

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Formatting and Submission Requirements  

Applicants are required to submit proposals electronically in PDF. It is the responsibility of the applicant to verify that the electronic submission is received. The following format applies: 1. Page Limit: The proposal is limited to ten (10) pages. This page limit does not include the cost and tech

forms or optional documentation 2. Organization: The proposal should be organized using the outlined format provided in the text of the

RFP, Part IV “Application Content”; Sections I-VI. Applicants are advised to address each sub-criterion in the section where it is requested in order to facilitate reviewer evaluation of the application. Attach required forms to the proposal.

3. Required Formatting:

Font: 12 pt. Times New Roman.

Spacing: 1.50

Margins: 1/2 inch margins all around.

Footer: Footer must be present and include the Name/Title of the Industry Partnership (See Appendix A, box 6 of the Application), Name of the Targeted Sector and the page numbers.

Proposals that do not adhere to these guidelines will be considered non-responsive and will not be reviewed.

Please submit your proposal electronically in PDF and Word 97 compatible formats no later than 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time on Tuesday, May 15, 2012 to:

PatriciaO.Dudgeon@ky.gov

For further information, please contact:

Patricia Dudgeon, Industry Partnership Coordinator Office of Employment and Training

Division of Workforce and Employment Services 275 East Main Street, CHR 2nd Floor, 2 W-A

Frankfort, Kentucky 40621

(502) 782-3032

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Definitions Administrative expenses – 20 CFR 667.200 applies to all grants and programs receiving WIA Title I Funds. Allocable portion of necessary and reasonable costs that are not related to direct provision of workforce services. For example, some administrative expenses include the following: accounting, budgeting, oversight and monitoring of administrative activities. Applicant – A partnership of employers’ organizations that submits proposals through this RFP process. This may also refer to such an entity that considers submitting a proposal. Application – Part VI - Proposal Cost Form 1 Proposal – Response to this RFP. These terms may be used interchangeably. Career Ladder – A set of occupations that are linked together by common or complimentary skills. These linkages provide workers with advancement opportunities and employers a pipeline of trainable employees. Career Pathways – Career pathways programs are clear sequences of coursework and credentials that help individuals of varying skill levels earn credentials valued by employers, enter rewarding careers in ‘in-demand’ and emerging industries and occupations, and advance to increasingly higher levels of education and employment. It is a framework for weaving together adult education, training and college programs that are currently separated into silos and connecting those services to employers’ workforce needs. Centers of Excellence - should, at a most basic level consist of a team of people that promote collaboration and use best practices around a specific focus area to drive business results. Consortium – A formal or informal group of businesses and/or organizations, including volunteer groups who share stated goals and objectives. Direct Costs - Costs identified with a specific line item detailed in the Budget Narrative or Budget Summary of a set of funds, under a federal grant Human Capital - is the stock of competencies, knowledge and personality attributes embodied in the ability to perform labor so as to produce economic value. It is the attributes gained by a worker through education and experience. Many early economic theories refer to it simply as workforce, one of three factors of production, and consider it to be a fungible resource -- homogeneous and easily interchangeable. Industry Partnerships - Key institutional innovation for identifying and meeting the skill needs of businesses, the career goals of workers, and the economic development goals of the Commonwealth. A group of organizations that mutually agree to collaborate in planning and implementing and committing themselves in writing to fulfilling the RFP requirements. Qualitative Outcome –Observational information that can be counted. Another way of expressing outcomes in a quantitative way is to compare actual outcomes against a comparison group in a like setting or similar program. Quantitative – Observational information that can be used to describe how a project functions and what it means to the people/organizations involved. Some examples of qualitative outcomes include photographs (with captions), case studies, and testimonial quotes. Location Quotient – Compares the regional share of economic activity in a particular industry to the national share of economic activity in the same industry. The result reveals the degree of regional specialization in each industry. Sector Strategies - a comprehensive, broad-based approach to indentifying and addressing skills needs across key industries within a region rather than focusing on the workforce needs of individual employers on a case-by-case basis. These strategies require workforce and other regional service providers to establish engaged and sustainable relationships with employers to determine the specific skill and occupational requirements to meet industry needs. Skill Gap Analysis - Organizations are often faced with many issues when making a transition to new or enhanced technologies or processes: Rapidly changing environments, re-skilling and outsourcing pressures, organizational changes as well as budget constraints. Skills Gap Analysis helps the employer assess the critical skills the organization will need. This type of analysis generally creates/results in a detailed training plan to ensure that the organization has the proper education structure in place. Structuring training to business’ critical areas maximizes the efficiency of an education/training budget. This ultimately encourages skill enhancement for both current and future employees, as well as improvements to business performance and a return on investment. Sustainability – Maintaining and supporting current levels of participation in the Industry Partnership membership and implementation of the developed strategic planning initiatives. Workforce Intermediaries - Workforce intermediaries offer local officials, stakeholders, and quasi-governmental entities a new approach to an issue of great and growing importance to a region’s ability to sustain a vibrant economy. More and more, workforce development is the most critical measure of economic competitiveness: cities and regions that have put effective workforce systems in place are attracting employers drawn by the prospect of well-trained workers and governments responsive to their needs. Intermediaries greatly help to advance local workforce agendas, providing focus for all the disparate players, pots of money, and institutional interests. Effective workforce intermediaries can bring order and cohesiveness to a very complicated area of policy, helping to mount effective jobs programs and advance positive agendas to support employers and workers.

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Resources

Organizations may find the following websites and resources helpful when preparing the proposal:

Aspen Institute

Career Pathways Toolkit

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Industry Partnerships

Kentucky Labor Market Information (LMI)

Kentucky Office of Employment and Training

Kentucky Workforce Investment Board (KWIB)

Kentucky Workforce Investment Board (KWIB) Sector Strategy Initiative and Online Toolkit 

Kentucky’s Unbridled Future (select project documents)

Local Workforce Investment Area (LWIA) Contact List

Minnesota Sector Partnerships

National Governors Association – Sector Strategies

Regional Targeted Sectors-Kentucky Local Workforce Investment Boards (LWIB) & Regional

Virginia’s Key Business Sectors

Workforce3One (U.S. Department of Labor Resources)

WORKSmart Kentucky Strategic Plan

             

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Appendix A – The Standard Form for Application for Federal Funds

Appendix A – The formal “Application for Federal Funds” provides the contact information, signature of all parties to the application, and serves as a formal checklist documenting the representation of the partners in the Industry Partnership.

Application for Kentucky Industry Partnership 1. Type of Submission:

New Continuation

2. Type of Application

Industry Partnership

3. Applicant Type:

4. Date Received: (OET use only) 5. Local Workforce Investment Board:

6. Title of Proposal:

7a. Targeted industry Sector: 7b. Industry:

8. APPLICANT INFORMATION: a. Applicant Name: b. Address: *Street 1: *Street 2: *City: *State: *Zip / Postal Code: c. List all LWIBs involved in this grant:

Letters of support from all participating LWIBs attached. PLEASE include all letters as ATTACHMENTS 9. Name and contact information of person to be contacted on matters involving this application: First Name: Last Name: Title: Telephone Number: Email: 10. Program manager: (if different from above) First Name: Last Name: Title: Telephone Number: Email: 11. Counties served by this grant:

12. Legislative Districts partnership covers: a. Senate: b. House of Representatives:

13. Funding Proposal Request ($):

14. Partnership Checklist (check each box represented in partnership)

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*a. Labor & Industry *b. In-Kind Match *c. Cash Match *d. TOTAL

(check each box represented in partnership) LWIB Minimum of 10 employers

Labor/unions KY Career Center Business

Services

Foundations Regional Partnership

Other

15. Authorized Representatives:

*Signature of Industry Representative: *Print Name:

*Date Signed: Email address:

*Signature of Program Manager: *Print Name:

*Date Signed: Email address:

*Signature of LWIB Director: *Print Name:

*Date Signed: Email address:

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Appendix B – Budget Summary Form

This required ‘Budget Summary Form’ is also a standard form for the request for federal funds and is used in all Office of Employment and Training agency ‘Notices of Funding Availability’ to document the categories for requested expenditure.

Budget Information for Industry Partnership BUDGET SUMMARY

Grant Program Activity FY 2012 Budget Request Cash Matching Funds Value of In-Kind Services TOTALS

Industry Partnership $ $

BUDGET SPECIFICS – BREAKDOWN OF GRANT FUNDING REQUEST (Do not list in-kind or matching funds on this sheet)

Categories Industry Partnerships

Totals

Administration (not to exceed 5%) $ Program Manager

Salary $ Benefits $

Travel $ Subtotal $ $

Other Costs Materials – Equipment not eligible $ Outreach – Provide details $ Contracted Services – List details separate $ Office supplies, Misc. & Other Costs – provide details

$

SUBTOTAL $ $

Provide sources and amounts of matching funds in budget narrative Total Grant Request $

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Appendix C – Budget Narrative Form A budget narrative is a detailed discussion/description of the justification for the requested funding and is organized by the categories of expenditures and tied to the activities/goals/results of the proposed plan. The budget must include this separate budget narrative to provide additional information on each cost category and to indicate how the grant funding is tied to program design and goals. Partnerships should anticipate allocating minimal expenses to travel for at a minimum of one (1) KWIB state meeting per year. Directions: Using the required format below, please provide a brief description of the costs associated with each line item identified in the Budget Summary Form. Please show any leveraging of resources to support the activities under this initiative, and delineate administrative costs that address the support of the plan goals.

Budget Category

Description Details Costs

Administrative Costs

Program Costs

Salaries

Benefits/Fringe (not to exceed 29% of salary costs)

Travel

Other costs

Other Personnel Costs

Travel

KWIB Meeting (minimum of one per year)

Materials (equipment not an eligible expenditure)

Outreach (provide types of outreach activities/costs)

Contracted Services (list details and proposed requirements of contractors)

Office Supplies, Miscellaneous & Other Costs (provide items and details)

Leveraging of Resources (identify the support for activities)

NOTE: This budget narrative document and the budget summary form will serve as the Commonwealth’s record of partnerships’ plans for the reimbursement of approved activities. In instances where grant funds are not awarded as originally requested, the applicant will be required to submit a modified budget and budget narrative, and any other budget related revision documents to the IP Plan administrator for review and approval.

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Appendix D - Industry Partnership Member Roster - Required This form is required to be completed as these documents should reflect the composition of the membership of the current, existing Industry Partnership (Tech 1)

Tech 1 - Industry Partnership Member Roster

Appendix E - Industry Partnership Timeline – Required (Sample Included) This sample form outlines a structure for the proposer to establish a project schedule reflecting the details of the project design and implementation.

Tech 2 – Industry Partnership Timeline (sample form/format included) .

Appendix F - A Sustainability Plan Guideline - Optional This guidance asks for descriptions of the evidence of any prior or ongoing sustainability activities or commitments that support sustainability of the Industry Partnership and plan. These elements may be already reflected in the body of the proposal.

Tech 3 - A Sustainability Plan Guideline

Appendix G - Additional Supporting Documents - Optional This optional documentation may include position descriptions for program manager and other administrative staff providing support to this partnership initiative. Data compilation reports, copies of MOUs, charts and details that support the current Industry Partnership may be included as well.

Tech 4 - Additional supporting documents

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Tech 1 - Industry Partnership Member Roster

Name of Industry Partnership:

Title of this Industry Partnership proposal:

Industry Partnership Sector Employer Members - Minimum of ten (10) required at time of application Attach additional pages as needed

Individual Business Name Nature of Business (e.g. manufacture, logistics for

auto industry, etc.)

Address Phone# 1) Email address of individual and

2) Business website

# of employees in KY

Letter of commitment attached ()

Required

 

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TECH 1: Industry Partnership Membership Roster

IP Members – Other than sector employer members Attach additional pages as needed

Individual Agency/organization name Address Phone # Email address of individual Letter of commitment attached Check () Required

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TECH 3 - Guidelines for Industry Partnership Sustainability Plan - OPTIONAL This Guideline is an optional component of the proposal, and may be described in the narratives of the sections of this proposal. This plan should be brief and kept to one (1) page if possible; no more than two (2) pages. Please feel free to use bullets, lists, etc. in your description.  

Provide a synopsis of the current proposal plan (1-2 paragraphs)

 

Describe how this proposal will be developed into a strategic plan for the IP (1-2 paragraphs):

 

Describe the action steps of how the resulting strategic plan will be implemented (1-2 paragraphs):

 

List the ways the IP will use this plan for continuation and future activities (1-2 paragraphs):

TECH 4 – Optional Letters of Support Letters of support from community, regional entities that describe their potential interest in serving on the Partnership or their unique role in advancing the mission, vision or goals of the Partnership