One of the priorities Chamber members regularly share is the need to improve the skills and dedication of potential employees entering or moving within, the local workforce.  This need is echoed by economic development organizations as an important component in business recruitment and expansion efforts.

Due to member input, the Klamath County Chamber of Commerce has taken on a larger role in the regional and statewide programs that drive training and employment opportunities for prospective employees by engaging with businesses to understand future needs.  Recently our involvement has increased with the rollout of four new workforce regions and a complete revamping of how programing is envisioned, should be managed, and delivered.

In the past, workforce development focused primarily on the unemployed worker in need of a job.  At times that meant pushing large numbers of people through the system without jobs waiting on the other end.  The economic recession highlighted this issue as more people were unemployed, or under-employed, and entered the traditional employment development system but without jobs to graduate newly trained workers to, quite a bottleneck ensued.

Current efforts are focusing on the need to get the businesses that create jobs to share their needs now, and in the future, so the outcome is a workforce development system that pulls job seekers through to real jobs at the end of the educational or rehabilitation process.

This is particularly important in rural Oregon.  A disconnect exists between the time, energy, and treasure being spent on the training side in rural communities, and then program graduates have been forced to communities that can provide jobs (often times out of state), or remain under-employed, as the rural Oregon job creation markets have not been vibrant.  The newly forming Workforce Investment Boards will be populated with members from the communities they serve and have a majority business (job creator) representation.  Also, for the first time, economic development organizations will be at the table helping connect economic activities to workforce development programs so participants have a greater likelihood of moving into a job at the end of the process.

None of this is to say the current workforce system has not operated well to date.  In fact, our local Worksource office is known as a statewide leader in providing services to job seekers, and outreach to employers, to ensure potential placements fit needs, and needed skills are being addressed.  What has changed is the available resource for programs and an increased need for a higher skilled workforce that meets changing dynamics in business development and growth.  A refocusing is in order and happening.

The newly formed East Cascades Workforce Investment Board (ECWIB) will feature 10 or 11 business members, Economic Development, Community College, Adult Education, Oregon Employment Department, Vocational Rehabilitation, Organized Labor, and Community Based Advocacy Organizations.  ECWIB will represent a ten county region from the California to Washington borders and will be partnered with elected officials from each County to address the needs of individual areas and the region as a whole.  The area will have subcommittees advising the board on local industry specific needs, opportunities in up and coming business sectors, program successes, and strategic pathways for expanding local economies.

The road ahead surely has some bumps and potholes but it is a path that needs to be taken and supported.  This is an opportunity for rural Oregon’s employment needs to be heard and addressed as part of the larger economic recovery picture.

Now to where the rubber meets the road:

• If you are an employer, what are your expectations of potential employee skills and how do you want to see dollars spent on workforce development?
• If you are a job seeker, what skills do you need to compete in today’s job market, and how to you expect to be supported in the transition process?

Leave us a comment and let us know!