The
project, an 18-month initiative of the Great Lakes Employment and
Training Association and Midwestern state workforce agencies under the
leadership of the Workforce Development Division of the Minnesota
Department of Employment and Economic Development, looks forward to the
collective future workforce needs of the Midwest in order to align the
area's human resources development strategies with research and
development investments, innovations in core industries, and with
business investments that further the region's global competitive
advantages.
The goals are to:
- Maximize the competitive advantages of the region;
- Instill a culture of entrepreneurship and investment in R&D;
- Establish a virtuous cycle of regional investment and economic growth with workforce development as a lead element.
This initiative will produce:
- Gatherings to help inform a regional development strategy;
- Working collaborations of local and state economic and workforce development agencies;
- A consortium of policy research institutions to support strategic development.
Work products include:
- A report on the overall regional economy;
- A comprehensive overview on investments in R&D and innovation;
- A summary of existing workforce investment initiatives from all funding sources;
- A strategy for matching up new and existing investments to create a virtuous cycle of regional investment and economic growth.
The project will:
- Support local, sub-regional and state efforts to serve dislocated, disadvantaged and other workers;
- Brief elected officials, and civic and opinion leaders on strategies for collective action;
- Establish
and fund an ongoing regional leadership collaborative to integrate
local workforce and economic development into a Midwestern development
agenda.
The
work will be accomplished through a series of commissioned papers,
regional conferences and workshops drawing on experts from the Midwest,
on research by universities and research organizations in the region,
on projects such as Great Lakes Economic Initiative of the Brookings
Institution, and on experts around the globe. Every commissioned
project must involve at least two institutions from different states.
It also will consult with and engage the Midwest's local and state
workforce and economic development systems and political and civic
leadership through direct outreach.
The
Initiative is led by the Great Lakes Employment and Training
Association - GLETA, the Midwest regional association of local
workforce agencies in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan,
Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin, by the corresponding
state agencies through the leadership of the Workforce Development
Division of Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
(MnDEED). The grant recipient is MnDEED and the fiscal agent is the
Hennepin-Carver Workforce Investment Board. The Institute is
responsible for all project management. The Midwestern Legislative
Conference of the Council of State Governments is affliated with the
project. The affiliation of the Midwestern Legislative Conference
expands the geographic reach to include North Dakota and South Dakota.
Funding is provided as a dislocated worker pilot project by the
Employment and Training Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor.
The initial phase of the project will run through June 2010.
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