State and Regional Roles in Aligning Resources and Strategies

State Role in Cross-System Alignment

The state partners can play a significant role in support of the regional initiatives by aligning state level agency resources and strategies, as well as identifying and remedying state level bureaucratic barriers to sector partnership development. These roles include:

Aligning and leveraging funding streams

As discussed in previously, agencies can align state and federal funding by combining resources for regional grants, reallocating existing resources around a common vision for sector strategies, and establishing criteria in grant solicitations for public sector partners’ resource investments. Some federal funding streams to consider for this alignment include WIA, TANF, Perkins, as well as grants from the U.S. Departments of Labor, Education and Commerce.

Aligning business services

Numerous organizations and agencies provide services to businesses, including state workforce boards, state workforce development divisions, community and technical college systems, economic development agencies, secondary career and technical education, adult education, and the Small Business Administration, amongst others. Often the state level approach is scattered and siloed, presenting uncoordinated and duplicative services to the business community at the local level. Aligning these strategies and resources in a sector framework offers a much more efficient and effective service delivery model to business. If state level partners succeed in aligning these services, local providers will find it easier to collaborate. Pennsylvania and Illinois have developed effective web pages/portals that show the alignment and inter-dependence of supply and demand strategies.

Aligning worker training and support services

Numerous states have aligned their supply side talent development strategies with their sector strategy approach, including K-20 and adult career pathway models; advancement of low-wage, low-skill worker strategies; apprenticeship models; and career readiness certificates; amongst others. For example, Oklahoma uses the umbrella of GROW Oklahoma to connect sector strategies, career and technical education, and the Career Readiness Certificate. Oklahoma also, through a partnership with Oklahoma State University (OSU) Institute of Technology, focuses on career pathways as a key strategy to aligning educational resources to meet the needs of the manufacturing sector. Minnesota is using their Joyce Foundation Shifting Gears initiative to align low-wage worker advancement with regional sector partnerships in critical industries. State partners that align these talent development strategies at the state level make it easier for regions to customize this alignment to meet their regional needs.

Identifying and overcoming state and federal barriers

An important role for the state is to identify (and rectify where possible) policy, regulatory, or practice barriers that prevent regions from developing effective sector partnerships. States can request waivers from the federal government on some regulatory issues. Some of these barriers include differences in: eligibility criteria for services; performance measures; geographical service areas; approval processes for delivery of new services; activities eligible for funding; record keeping, auditing, and reporting requirements. States should not assume that a policy cannot be changed, but rather work toward identifying barriers that can be addressed.

Regional Role in Aligning Resources

Alignment of resources and strategies is a major role of the sector partnership, with particular responsibility falling on the intermediary or convener. These roles include:

• Aligning and leveraging funding streams to support the initiative
• Aligning business services and strategies to meet the needs of the businesses in the sector
• Aligning services, strategies and educational pathways to meet the needs of the workers in the sector
• Identifying state and federal barriers (that can potentially be changed) to implementation, and communicating these barriers to state partners