In conjunction with Skills2Compete, the Workforce Alliance idenitfies job opportunities in Michigan for workers with more than a high school diploma but less than a four year degree, and training opportunities than can put them within reach. CSW, together with partners Michigan Community College Association and Michigan League for Human Services, contirbuted to the report.

For rural regions, economic competitiveness depends on regional ability to build industry partnerships that leverage expertise and resources across employers and public systems (regardless of distance). This paper offers examples and recommendations for building the skilled workforce and competitive industries that rural regions need to thrive.

The Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), is an association of city and county governments and metropolitan planning organizations serving a nine-county, bi-state, greater Kansas City region. At a December, 2008 meeting of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Energy Policy Committee, representatives of the Chamber, MARC, Metropolitan Energy Center (MEC), Metropolitan Community College (MCC), OneKC WIRED, and Johnson County Community College (JCCC) agreed to work together as a Steering Committee to coordinate efforts to deploy new programs aimed at developing a regional workforce equipped to meet the needs of private and public sector employers involved in sustainable industries and decision-making…

This report describes how strategic partnerships between industry and community colleges can boost our economy over the long-term by training tomorrow’s workers for future jobs. The report highlights six innovative partnerships between community colleges and manufacturers. Each program focuses on creating pathways for Hispanic immigrants with little or no postsecondary experience to enroll in college level coursework. The programs achieve this by getting buy-in from employers and having strong commitment from a local community college that understands and addresses the unique challenges of immigrant workers.

This report contains recommendations for shrinking the number of Michigan adults who lack basic skills to obtain family-sustaining jobs and contribute to the economy. The report, which CSW and Michigan’s Adult Learning Work Group developed for the Council for Labor and Economic Growth, lays out an unprecedented vision for preparing these workers to thrive by creating an integrated, adult learning system that is flexible enough to meet learners where they are and help them to advance from there.

Very small businesses — those with less than 5 employees — account for 86% of businesses in Michigan and 18% of jobs. With the economy growing ever-tighter, more people are looking to microenterprise to augment or even replace outcomes. This report examines crucial steps to grow the capacity of support organizations to help these small firms succeed. The 2008 report was produced with the generous support of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and CSW’s partner, the Aspen Institute’s FIELD program.

This report, developed for the Washington State Workforce Training and Education Coordinating Board, looks at ways to evaluate the impact of “Skill Panels” (regional, industry-focused workforce development partnerships) on workers, employers, and public systems. This is one of the latest examples of an evolving movement to capture the impact of sector partnerships, model workforce development approaches that connect workers to good jobs.

This report looks at Math and Science Preparation in America.

Workforce investment boards (WIBs) can, should, and do play leadership roles such as community convener, information broker of value–added workforce intelligence, connector to strategic relationships and alliances, and workforce intermediary. This study provides an opportunity to examine the exemplary practices of workforce industry leaders who provide standards to which all boards may aspire. We believe there is tremendous opportunity to increase the impact of boards, leverage more resources for workforce development, and increase the potential for at-risk communities to regain their competitive advantage.

CSW’s Guide to Improving One-Stops through Benchmarked Critical Success Factors provides state and local policy makers with the tools to improve their One-Stop systems through the application of critical success factors. This ground-breaking study includes a description of a “good” One-Stop, considerations for policy makers desiring to implement the criteria and a self-assessment tool for local One-Stop operators and partners.

This report, written in 2002, provides state and local policy makers and practitioners with information about Critical Success Factors in the implementation and operation of one-stop centers based on a study of 20 centers overseen by 12 Workforce Boards across the country.