Notes from Reimagine Grant Partners Team Meeting

Resources

• PDF of presentation slides
• Reimagine Grant program web page

Breakout Group 1: Business engagement

Questions

1. These training programs will need to be industry-driven – which industry organizations or intermediaries need to be engaged in this process? What would employers need to see in this grant to make active participation worthwhile? What criteria for partnership can we ask of employers in return for grant funds to customize training pathways to meet their needs.

• Need for employer incentives – apprenticeship opportunities as an example. The worker coming to you gets an extra incentive to make it through the application process. What is the employer incentive – financial, tax break – when they hire those who have gone through this application – what’s the incentive. You have to have both at the table to identify the proper incentive(s).
• Mutual benefit – helping to create a process where collaboration is encourage – things like mutual benefit is defined, and it becomes a high-value proposition for the process.
• We get to create a set of success indicators – how do you measure mutual benefit through the eyes of the collaborating parties? Looking for a kind of governance structure where employers are seated at the table. Maybe employers can determine what success looks like to them if they participate in this process.
• For industry-driven training programs – the validation process – we do have the apprenticeship system that has that integrated from the beginning. Competencies are embedded by employers and tied to the required competencies. We have collaboration structures already in place in the state. Grant encourages using existing frameworks. Creating a new process, engaging new employers – tough in the short timeline.
• For manufacturing – Boeing has laid off thousands – we’ve been talking about what COVID has registered in our supply chain issues with offshoring of manufacturing. Is there a way to incentivize on-shore, if we provided this training? Providing a highly-skilled workforce, digital fluency.
• Thinking about traditional models – OJT and a commitment to hiring people after the fact. Those models work well in our current economy when biz isn’t able to put in a lot of time for building apprenticeship models and getting them registered. COMP-TIA training has been a big one in SW WA. The other opt is specific to healthcare around building technical IT work in HC. Lots of good results with a project through the Biller Foundation. Incumbent worker training,
• OJT – where a biz can commit to supporting the trained workers (even with a commitment to interview). The WFBs could do more with CCW in bringing funds and support to the table to help with upskilling and other training.

2. Are there specific industry clusters that you believe will need large numbers of skilled workers soon (either state or regional level)? How might we engage that sector in the development of this grant to develop short-term credentials for entry to employment with livable wages?

• Manufacturing – hearing from most regions of the state. Aspects have survived and are doing very well. Some are primed and ready to restart in a pretty robust way.
• Hearing that when people come back and want to do apprenticeships with companies – what is the pathway once people start there? The employee needs to see upward mobility, training, what is being provided. In working on a range of projects – even aerospace didn’t have a good career pathway once they got there. So we’ve been helping them. In NV – the entertainment (gaming, casinos) world has been shattered – so working on upskilling folks. Digital work, robotics, AI/AR. How can we change our industrial base and make it affordable for manufacturers in our state to produce PPE. Some of this is a federal conversation. PPE – talking about retooling with the Gov’s office. Helped with retooling businesses to do this. This is an opportunity to discuss what is next, and how we upskill our workforce to the next digital age?
• Objective is to get people on a pathway to career pathways and career progress. Want to work w/ the companies to develop career pathways internally to help with an on-ramp. Not just creating credentials for the program we fund, but also creating a credential pathway that sustains for the long-term. Giving the employee momentum.
• Ensure that whatever we create is sustainable in the long-term. Ex: doing an apprenticeship with ARM (Adv. Robotics Manufacturing). When someone leaves JBLM… they are a displaced worker. How do you take that skilled WF and bring them back in? This is a skilled WF that might be available and ready to engage in this process.
• Jobs EQ (?) – provides a lot of info on occupations in demand. Need to get dislocated workers into high-wage jobs, but this is certainly a challenge.
• A sector that is doing well now – the life sciences sector. Oppts in bio-manufacturing. Moving from R&D for healthcare into commercialization. Opening up a new sector in the life sciences. Creating new pathways through CCW – great onramp for individuals who may be looking for a manufacturing job that’s very purposeful, improving lives through manufacturing of medicines. These are companies working to bring us out of the COVID crisis. Many companies have thrown themselves into the work of addressing COVID while still working on issues such as cancer research. We have some nascent projects that would be of interest to support. We worked closely with Suzanne Ames to create a class to train those who are making ventilators, ultrasounds… we can’t find workers for these jobs. Would welcome support in sharing these opportunities. Ready-made on-ramps. We just need the participants and to scale these projects to meet the demands of a Career Launch experience.
• Need data on how many positions are available, wage levels, and career path opportunities.
• They are clustered in Bothell, South Lake Union, but also in Spokane area.
• There is a Career Launch program in biotech in Spokane right now.
• Important that we talk about the healthcare sector! (We will next meeting).

3. How will working with these sectors have greatest impact on Washington’s under-resourced and marginalized communities?

Type notes here.

4. How might we leverage existing resources to build stronger, more robust partnerships with industry to establish a new talent pipeline, with multiple entry points, that meets the immediate and long-term needs of industry? What will it take to scale industry-approved programs to the level needed to absorb thousands more dislocated workers?

Type notes here…

5. How might businesses take on a greater role in curriculum development, program implementation, and evaluation to ensure programs are meeting their needs?

Type notes here…

6. What do entrepreneurs or small businesses need in terms of education and training that would help them expand or improve their business, or create new ones? Are there supports needed beyond education and training? Can these additional supports be leveraged from other organizations and funding streams?

Type notes here…

Breakout Group 2: IT career pathways

Questions

What are the best mechanisms for engaging all relevant parties in mapping the IT education and training resources of the state? Is it feasible to create a new competency-based credentialing pathway system that maps to the needs of WA’s industries and higher education systems?

No notes, yet.

Can we establish a base level of knowledge, skills and abilities that every Washington worker should have? Should there be tiers of credentials at this base level?

Entry level IT literacy test; Basic education for IT that places students in the right class level

How would contextualization connect to the pathway? How should we approach incumbent learners who are not used to working remotely? Employees and incumbent working together.

Incumbent healthcare workers – digital literacy expectations have continued to increase. SEIU has been training their members virtually. Can this type of training lead to additional ways.

Credential Engine’s infrastructure allows for the contextualization of pathways, meaning you can show connections between credentials, define education and career pathways, etc. So this work could build off of the work we’re already doing in the state, by articulating and making transparent pathways that already exist and building new pathways. Additionally, want to think about how to include “new” credentials like bootcamps, badges, etc, that aren’t currently included in Career Bridge.

Resources: https://certiport.pearsonvue.com/Certifications/IC3/Digital-Literacy-Certification/Overview.aspx

North Star exams

How might we ensure that every Washingtonian has access to learning opportunities to build their digital literacy? What are the barriers for different communities and populations to engage in IT career pathway learning?

No notes, yet.

Which organizations should be involved in developing the IT Service Corps model, including participation and learning requirements, and the parameters for the type of work a Corps Member might undertake? For this grant, the IT Service Corps experience must contain paid work experience. Are there particular organizations with resources to leverage that might operate a cohort of Corps Members, or sponsor individual members?

Incent students into tech by offering a “community service component” to unlock more opportunities/reach a broader audience. Gain confidence so students experience success and can see themselves in school/career path.

Question: Need to look at definition of wage. (James Trujillo)

Resource:

https://4-h.org/about/blog/4-h-and-microsoft-grow-tech-changemakers/

https://corpsnetwork.org/

Rebuilding, refurbishing, and maintaining computer hardware is a tremendous learning enhancement opportunity, as well as a path to making such hardware available to under-resourced populations. How might educational institutions be encouraged to pilot this component of the grant, both to help prepare dislocated workers and to enhance learning for their computer science students? What should the grant pay for vs. what might we expect as leveraged resources from these institutions?

No notes, yet.

Breakout Group 3: Transparent and Interoperable Credentialing Pathways

Coming soon!