February 2018

For your calendar

Minneapolis Workforce Development Board Meeting

Date: March 20, 2018

Time: 8:00 - 9:30 a.m.

Location: Minneapolis Community and Technical College

1501 Hennepin Avenue

Minneapolis, MN 55403

Immigrant Workers in Minnesota – DEED Report

While Minnesota has fewer immigrants proportionally than many other parts of the country, foreign-born residents are an increasingly important part of the state economy. Since 2010, more than half of the state's labor force has come from foreign-born workers. >>Read more. 

STEP-UP Partners Breakfast 

The annual STEP-UP Partners Breakfast on Thursday, Feb. 8 was fueled with a tasty breakfast, many STEP-UP employers, and special guest speakers. Two of the guest speakers were STEP-UP alums themselves; the 2018 Outstanding Alum winner, Representative Fue Lee and STEP-UP alumna, Jennifer Ramirez illustrated how impactful the program was for them and their future. Several  guest speakers—Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools, Ed Graff; Mayor Jacob Frey; and Vice President of Human Resources and Corporate Communications of Graco Inc., David Ahlers—addressed the importance of hiring a STEP-UP intern, particularly about the program’s usefulness to our City as a whole when training the next generation of leaders. Mayor Jacob Frey committed the City of Minneapolis to hiring more interns than the year before and encouraged other employers to do the same. >>Read more.

Could your company benefit from a talented STEM intern? 

Receive a 50 percent cash match
on your intern's wages, 
up to $2500 through SciTechsperience.

SciTechsperience is a free, statewide, state-funded internship program that connects small for-profit Minnesota businesses with talented college STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) students. 

Participating companies receive a wage reimbursement of 50 percent of the intern's wages up  to $2,500.

What's New:

• Companies located anywhere in Minnesota with less than 250 employees worldwide may participate
• Graduate students are now eligible for the program
• More than 325 reimbursements are available now on a first-come, first hire basis 

Find past issues of the Minneapolis Workforce Development Board News here.

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Minneapolis Building & Construction Trades Tour

Matt Campanario from  North Central States Regional Council of Carpenters leads the trades tour.

In late January, members of Achieve Minneapolis, City of Minneapolis Employment and Training and Minneapolis Public Schools participated in a tour focused on the Minneapolis Building and Construction trades.  They toured the Joint Apprenticeship Training Centers for the Laborers, Ironworkers and Carpenters Union.  The tour was led by union representatives and attendees were able to learn more about the apprenticeship programs, get an overview of the trade and view the training facilities. This event helped youth-engaged staff better understand the career pathways and everyday activities of these needed union workers.  Minneapolis Employment & Training is organizing a follow-up meeting for tour participants to attend and keep the momentum-moving forward on becoming more involved with the trades. The goal was to learn more about each union, understand their apprenticeship process and to better educate youth in navigating the union programs. 

Minnesota Apprenticeship Summit

  Explore Strategies to Expand Apprenticeship, Build Our 21st Century Workforce

The summit will showcase apprenticeship best practices and strategies in the high-growth industries of construction, health care, manufacturing, and more. It’s a day full of educational and networking opportunities celebrating the success of apprenticeship in Minnesota. 

  WHAT: Minnesota Apprenticeship Summit 
  WHEN: Wednesday, March 7, 2018 
  WHERE: Earle Brown Heritage Center, Brooklyn Center 
  COST: The summit includes breakfast, lunch and workshops – and      there’s no cost to attend 

 Why Attend? 

Apprenticeship is a tried-and-true model of training workers. 

“The apprenticeship model continues to be one of the most successful forms of workforce training that combines structured on-the-job learning, with technical and safety instruction,” said John Aiken, Director of Apprenticeship, Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry. “It is not only a great way to train your workforce, it is an investment that benefits workers and helps employers continue to retain their highly-skilled workforce when workers complete their apprenticeship.” 

The summit includes speakers and panels from a range of industries and organizations. Workshops are designed for employers who have years of experience with apprenticeship, as well as those interested in creating their own program. 

  A Sample of Panels 

• Apprenticeship program models across multiple industries
• Creating an inclusive work environment
• Partnering for success: Apprenticeship and educating, community-based organizations and career readiness programs|
• Apprenticeship 101
• Apprenticeship next steps 

Learn more and register. 

  Want More Apprenticeship Information? 

Visit www.apprenticeship.mn.gov for FAQs, events, newsletters, grant opportunities – and more.

Letter from DEED Commissioner - WIOA Plan

Dear Minnesota Workforce Development Partners and Stakeholders:

I am writing to ask for your help in continuing the work to positively shape the future of Minnesota’s workforce development system. The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires the Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) to submit a four-year strategy of the State’s workforce development system to the US Department of Labor (DOL) and to submit a modification to that plan after two years. The time to submit the modification has come.

While our commitment to the vision and goals identified and submitted in our Combined State Plan two years ago remains unchanged, this modification is an opportunity for us to ensure our programs, policies and strategies are aligned with those goals. As a reminder, our State Plan’s primary goals are:

1. To reduce educational and employment disparities based on race and disability to provide greater opportunity for all Minnesotans; and
2. To build employer-led industry sector partnerships focused on better understanding of the skills that employers need and connecting skilled workers to those opportunities.

In a Guidance Letter released just last week, DOL announced that DEED must submit our modification by March 15, 2018 – significantly sooner than anticipated. Because your input is essential to this modification, I wanted to reach out quickly to share with you the process and timeline we will follow to develop and submit our update. At this time, DEED, in partnership with impacted state agencies, is working to assemble proposed updates, which will include changes to all thirteen WIOA program titles.

DEED will make these draft proposed changes available for public comment from Thursday, February 8, 2018 – Saturday, March 10, 2018. We will also be hosting webinars in each region during the first two weeks of the public comment period to answer questions and obtain feedback. Once we’ve collected your feedback, we will put the finishing touches on our modification before submitting to DOL.

Please know that we will keep our WIOA website up-to-date and we strongly encourage you to submit your feedback to WIOA.Comments@state.mn.us.

Thank you,

Commissioner Hardy

Shawntera Hardy | Commissioner 
Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development 
1st National Bank Building | 332 Minnesota Street, Suite E200
Saint Paul, MN 55101