It’s Time to Up-Skill, Re-Skill, Reorganize and Get Training!
American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 (“the Recovery Act’) and the Workforce Investment Act (WIA)
Stimulus Funds for Education & Training
As economic recovery and stimulus funds designed for training and education begin to emerge from the Department of Labor/ETA, it is critical that metalworking and manufacturing communities actively pursue these funding sources and opportunities. By aligning adult education, occupational job training, apprenticeships, on-the-job training, career advancement activities and supportive services with economic and community workforce development strategies, employer skill demands and the needs of the unemployed, underemployed and dislocated worker are simultaneously met.
Local workforce boards (WIA) are being directed to collaborate with local community colleges and other training/education providers, registered apprenticeship programs, employers, manufacturers, trade associations and labor organizations to enable job seekers and incumbent workers to re-skill and upgrade existing skills to compete in a changing world in order to maintain a vibrant middle class.
Recovery Act (Stimulus) funds are available for:
- Competency-based occupational skills training
- Structured on-the-job training
- Programs that blend workplace training with related technical instruction
- Developing 21st Century apprenticeship programs
- Curriculum development
- Job readiness training
- Skill upgrade, retraining and advancement
- Literacy training
- Customized training
In utilizing the funding in the Recovery Act, federal, state and local levels of the workforce system are guided by three principles:
- Transparency and accountability
- Timely spending of funds and implementation of activities/programs
- Increasing workforce system capacity
Of particular interest to the manufacturing industries are the WIA Adult Program and the WIA Dislocated Worker Program. States, WIA boards, MEPs, community colleges, employer organizations and employers are being strongly encouraged to spend Recovery Act funding quickly and effectively.
How can your company take advantage of this opportunity? Get over to your local community college, or contact your Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP), your local WIA Board, OneStop or community workforce or economic development organization and search out these funds! Be persistent! States have flexibility regarding where to position these funds and the protocol to access and disperse them. These are YOUR tax dollars at work here – it’s time we “recover” these funds and use them effectively and expeditiously for the benefit of our industry!
Times are slow and many of you are down to a core, yet very experienced, workforce—so now is the time for change; now is the time to assess how work is done and how well it is done. Now is the time to re-tool your workforce for better times ahead. This is a great opportunity to do what you’ve always wanted to do but were too busy or lacked funds to implement in the past.
The PMA Educational Foundation (PMAEF) is positioned to assist you, your MEP and/or community college in designing and developing education and training programs to meet the present and future needs of the great American workforce. PMAEF can provide or develop curriculum, structure competency-based skill progressions and on-the-job learning programs, train your on-the-job trainers, provide instructional resources and materials, custom design training programs and activities, implement or upgrade apprenticeships, redesign and cross-train your workforce, assist in new-hire screening and assessment practices, and promote careers and advanced opportunities in metalworking and advanced manufacturing. So, if your community college, MEP or other approved education provider needs resources, expertise or assistance, PMAEF can fill those gaps. We’re ready – are you? For more information, please visit WorkingSolutions or contact Bruce Broman at bbroman@pma.org.