January 2025
Gratitude for you and your work
Dear Partners in Workforce Development,
As we bid farewell to 2024 and welcome in 2025, we would like to express our gratitude to DEED grantees and our workforce development partners. Your unwavering dedication and tireless efforts every day support Minnesotans’ goals to achieve their full employment and economic potential.
Through your work, you give people hope for a brighter future and help turn that hope into tangible realities. Thank you for collaborating with us to innovate and continuously striving to serve our customers better. Your commitment is making Minnesota’s economy more equitable and fostering hope for a better tomorrow. You are the driving force behind the success of Minnesota’s workforce development system. Thank you.
With appreciation,
Marc Majors, DEED Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development
Ama Akakpo, Division Director of Employment and Training Programs
Nancy Omondi, Senior Director of Adult/DW Federal & State Programs
Ann Meyers, Director of Adult Career Pathways and Innovation
Jill Roberts, Director of Finance & Compliance Teams
Kay Tracy, Director of Youth State & Federal Programs
Request for Proposals
The Office of Adult Career Pathways is soliciting applications for the two Transformative Career Pathways programs:
- Capacity Building to eligible Minnesota community-based organizations to increase their capacity to provide workforce services and related training to historically underserved communities of color or low-income communities. Applications will be accepted on a continual basis until all funds have been awarded.
- Diversity and Inclusion training to eligible Minnesota Small Businesses to increase their ability to engage, hire, and retain people of color in a variety of roles.
We encourage you to review the RFPs and apply if you fit the eligibility and are interested in the opportunity. We also encourage you to share these opportunities with your partners or small business partners. Awards for these two programs will be conducted on a quarterly basis until all funds have been awarded.
The link to the RFPs can be found at DEED’s Competitive Grants and Contracts webpage: https://mn.gov/deed/about/contracts/open-rfp.jsp
Provider Meetings
We look forward to connecting with you at the upcoming quarterly provider meetings!
- Clean Economy grantees will meet on January 9th, 9:00-11:00 AM
- Competitive Grant grantees will meet on January 13th, 2:30-4:00 PM
- Drive for Five grantees will meet on January 14th, 2:00-3:30 PM
The intention of Competitive grant and Drive for 5 provider meetings is to share best practices and strategies, discuss challenges, and source solutions. DEED will also provide universal program updates during this time. Your first point of contact remains your ACP Grant Coordinator; however, these meetings will give us an opportunity to connect providers across the state and to ensure that DEED is providing consistent communication.
Adult Career Pathways Webpage
Check out the ACP home page for resources and tools to assist in the management of ACP Grants. The ACP Operations Guide, Cost Category Guidance, & ACP Provider Map were updated in December.
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ACP Operations Guide
- Added a Credential Type section with definitions (pg. 16); Updated Partnership section to include information about and the link to the Compensated Partner Form (pg. 29).
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Cost Category Guidance
- Added a Travel Expense Guidance section (pg. 27); Updated the Outreach section to clarify staff/third-party expenditures (pg. 21).
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ACP Provider Map – Please review and if you are not included, but would like to be, reach out to your Coordinator.
Please contact your Adult Career Pathways Grant Coordinator directly with any questions regarding Adult Career Pathways Programs.
WIOA Adult and DW
- Quarterly Progress Report (QPR) is due Jan. 31st (Oct-Dec 2024).
- A QPR is required for all active grants.
State DW
State DW Expansion Training Webinar
The State DW Expansion training webinar was held on Monday, December 9. A total of 197 people attended the virtual training. We appreciate your participation and insights; all questions were extremely valuable. The training recording and additional materials are now uploaded on MN DEED’s website. You can find the links on the Office of Dislocated Worker and Federal Adult Programs “Resources” page, on the “Training” tab. Please follow this link.
We anticipate that you will have more questions as you start enrolling participants under the 3 new categories. Please don’t hesitate to send your questions to our general email at DWFAPrograms.DEED@state.mn.us.
Retaining Employment and Talent After Injury/Illness Network (RETAIN):
Throughout Phase 2 of RETAIN, the Office of Disability and Employment policy convened an annual symposium in Washington D.C. for Phase 2 RETAIN grantees. The purpose is to bring together the five RETAIN states (Minnesota, Ohio, Vermont, Kansas, Kentucky) to share knowledge and provide critical feedback to the federal partners on programmatic successes, challenges, and sustainability plans.MN RETAIN received recognition and awards in three areas:
- Innovation in Healthcare – For integrating employment as a social determinant of health into electronic medical records of a major health system.
- Excellence in Outreach and Recruitment – For outstanding outreach and recruitment efforts, utilizing multiple avenues to achieve statewide service delivery.
- Legislative Advocacy – For advocating for the passage of state legislation to support ill/injured workers, demonstrating leadership in policy change that impacts the workforce.
Contact Dislocated Worker Federal Adult Program staff for any related program questions:
- Senior Community Service Employment Program Contact: Enock Kakuuku, Grants Specialist Coordinator, at kakuuku@state.mn.us
- Continue to email requests, reports, technical assistance questions, etc. (including the Re-Entry Pilot Grant) to the Dislocated Worker Federal Adult Programs general email at deed@state.mn.us.
Please email all requests, reports, and technical assistance questions to the Dislocated Worker Federal Adult Programs general email at dwfaprograms.deed@state.mn.us.
Virtual Informational Session January 28
Minnesota Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) hosts virtual informational sessions and refers attendees to enroll in the Dislocated Worker (DW) program to access their TAA benefits. The sessions are for people who may be eligible to apply for TAA benefits under older petitions. Thank you in advance for your work to serve these shared customers, some of whom may have been laid off under a TAA petition years ago. The next session is January 28 and the link to the session is at https://www.careerforcemn.com/TAA.
Please email all questions and customer applications to the Trade Adjustment Assistance general email at deed.taa@state.mn.us.
Did you know that there is free marketing of no-cost training programs on the CareerForceMN.com Training Program Finder?
Check out the Training Program Finder on CareerForceMN.com—and make sure to add your no-cost training opportunities to this easily searchable listing.
The Training Program Finder page gets thousands of views a month!
Partners using this tool to promote their training programs have told us they’ve seen an increase in enrollment.
If you have a training program not listed in the Training Program Finder, what are you waiting for?
The Training Program Finder is a great opportunity for partners who offer occupation-based training programs to market upcoming opportunities that will assist job seekers on their career pathway. Content added must be for no-cost-to-the-customer training, funded by programs such as:
- Drive for 5
- Pathways to Prosperity
- Direct appropriation
- Other state-funded training grants
- Funding from city, county, or workforce development boards
- Foundation or other training grants
We need to hear from you about why you use (or don’t use) the Training Program Finder:
For information about how to get your training programs listed on the Training Program Finder on CareerForceMN.com:
OR
- Contact the CareerForce Information and Assistance line at 651-259-7500 or careerforce@state.mn.us if you have questions
Contact the CareerForce Information and Assistance line at 651-259-7500 or careerforce@state.mn.us if you have questions.
This month's Local Look blogs explore a variety of topics, including details on veterans in the Twin Cities, occupations in demand in Central Minnesota, long-term projections in Northwest, the Leisure & Hospitality industry in Southwest, and employee turnover rates in Southeast. Finally, the Northeast blog uses SLEDS data to show what high school students do after they graduate. For more local information on any of these topics, please reach out to your Regional Analyst!
If you have questions about Labor Market Information, please email deed.lmi@state.mn.us.
This newsletter is meant for DEED Grantees, Providers, and Employment Counselors. We want this e-Newsletter to meet your needs! We encourage you to send your comments and suggestions to deed.taa@state.mn.us.
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