Will Oregon at Work strategies create more competitive workers and businesses?
Governor Kitzhaber announced last week the completion of a statewide strategic plan from the Oregon Workforce Investment Board. The plan, titled Oregon at Work, outlines strategies to boost employment through workforce education and other programs tailored to Oregon’s citizens and businesses. Local Workforce Investment Boards across the state are now charged with implementation.
“Oregon’s quality of life and long-term prosperity are dependent on a healthy, diverse economy with family wage jobs,” said Governor Kitzhaber. “A skilled and well-educated workforce is essential to the future of our state.”
Oregon at Work includes strategies to help people find and keep jobs and to help companies find and retain talented workers. The plan, designed to integrate economic development and workforce training programs, is based on three core strategies:
- Creating and enhancing private/public partnerships by business sector to better identify and meet industry needs for a highly skilled workforce. These sector partnerships are proven to encourage innovation in rapidly changing industries like health care and clean technology while increasing opportunities for workers.
- Supporting Certified Work Ready Communities, which help citizens gain foundational skills to compete for good jobs and help companies grow. Communities can use this certification to attract, retain, and grow businesses. This strategy builds on Oregon’s investment in the National Career Readiness Certificate, which objectively measures foundational skills in ways that companies can understand. More than 17,000 Oregonians have earned the Career Readiness Certificate.
- Focusing on innovation in Oregon’s workforce system to create efficiencies and respond more effectively to the needs of today’s industries while preparing for future shifts in the economy.
The plan, which includes feedback from more than 400 Oregonians, was approved by the Oregon Workforce Investment Board on June 22. Local Workforce Investment Boards will now work with workforce, education, business, and economic development partners to begin implementation based on the needs of their communities.
www.worksourceoregon.org/state-workforce-board/statewide-strategic-plan.
