WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (WIOA) LOCAL PLAN EASTERN AREA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD PROGRAM YEARS

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WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (WIOA)

LOCAL PLAN

EASTERN AREA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD

PROGRAM YEARS 2020-2023

Judith Cooper, Chairperson 110 W Country Club Road, Suite 6

Roswell, NM 88201 (575) 208-2157 [email protected]

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OVERVIEW

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requires that local workforce development boards develop and submit to the state a comprehensive four-year plan (Local Plan) that aligns with the New Mexico combined state plan. This plan must be developed openly and in collaboration between the local board, its Chief Elected Officials (CEOs) and WIOA system partners. Local plans are required to include strategic planning elements such as analyses of economic conditions, employer needs, and skills gaps as well as information on the local workforce system structure and activities. This information is utilized to develop strategies to move the public workforce system forward with more intentional and planned coordination to ensure the businesses of New Mexico can compete in the global economy.

WIOA requires local plans to align with the State’s vision as set forth in the Combined State plan. The plan serves to develop, align and integrate service delivery strategies and to support the State’s vision and strategic and operational goals. The plan sets forth strategies to:

1) Direct investments in economic, education and workforce training programs to focus on providing relevant education and training to ensure that individuals, including youth and individuals with barriers to employment, have the skills necessary to compete in the job market and that employers have a ready supply of skilled workers;

2) Apply job driven strategies in the one stop delivery system; and

3) Enable economic, education, and workforce partners to build a skilled workforce through innovation in, and alignment of, employment, training and education programs.

This plan identifies the Eastern Area Workforce Development Board’s (EAWDB) vision for the workforce development system and is a tool to foster a more seamless workforce system for both businesses and job seekers. It is the foundation for the establishment and growth of an integrated workforce system that aligns resources to minimize or eliminate duplication of workforce system partner services and leverage resources and expertise to improve the skills of the workforce while focusing on demand occupations or emerging industries with career ladders, lattices and pathways.

The plan must be available for public comment for thirty days and public comments must be provided to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (NMDWS) as State Administrative Entity (SAE). To accomplish this, the local plan was posted at the EAWDB.org website and distributed to local partners and CEOs.

The EAWDB plan was developed utilizing data and partner input to establish goals and objectives to improve services to employers, job seekers and communities that upskill the existing and emerging workforce. Virtual meetings and phone conferences were held with system partners and stakeholders in the region including Adult Education and Literacy, Wagner-Peyser, Unemployment Insurance, Job Corps, Secondary and post-secondary, and employers to identify program and system needs and challenges.

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The EAWDB has strong collaborative relationships with system partners that meet quarterly in local communities for cross training and coordination of services. The updated plan incorporates strategies based on lessons learned to maintain a system of innovative approaches for expanded and enhanced services available within the system.

Implementation of the WIOA over the first planning cycle included highs, lows, challenges, and a pandemic. The challenges were difficult certainly, but they resulted in new ways to approach service delivery, coordination, collaboration, policy development and partnership. The area overhauled all policies and they were re-written utilizing partner input through their inclusion in the one stop services delivery committee. This resulted in a broader approach to policy that provided service providers more ability and flexibility to provide wrap around services to individuals co-enrolled in other partner programs.

One of the most difficult initiatives and promising successes was the development of a co-enrollment process across Title I and III for all recipients of unemployment insurance benefits involved in the ReEmployment Services and Eligibility Assessment (RESEA) program. These are individuals that are determined most likely to exhaust UI benefits based on state established criterion. The goal of that program is to shorten the duration of benefits for those most likely to exhaust. The One Stop Operator (OSO) and board staff worked with partners to develop a process that removed silos and increased access to services for that population. The pilot program is designed to lay the foundation for an integrated customer flow maximizing co-enrollment of individuals seeking services in a WCC office. The goal is ultimately to establish a process that co-enrolls customers in all programs they are eligible for at the time of intake so that the widest array of services is available in the most seamless way possible. These processes were being tested and training was scheduled for full deployment when the pandemic struck resulting in closed offices and a stoppage of work search requirements and RESEA activities. The program launch has been completed and is paving the way for integrated service delivery for youth, dislocated workers, individuals with disabilities, and veterans in PY21.

Another accomplishment was the completion of the SharePoint platform for the offices and partners. This platform provided a mechanism for partners in the local offices to have a shared calendar for events and staff scheduling. The platform also provides access to meeting spaces for projects and collaboratives through Microsoft Teams, a uniform email domain for staff in the centers and a centralized document storage space for federal, state, and local policies; local office procedures; and system forms.

The youth service provider gained access to a virtual youth services platform that will allow for fully virtual applications for services, secure uploading of eligibility information and virtual access to services in the rural communities. The platform also allows career coaches to route program documents such as training and supportive service agreements, timesheets, progress reports, and evaluations for digital signature, eliminating the need for career coaches to travel to obtain necessary signatures on those documents.

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The OSO and board staff began meeting with employers to identify industry labor shortages and skill gaps. This resulted in the establishment of sector strategies in the health care and education industries. Further meetings identified additional needs for IT support for these and other industries that have the capacity to work remotely in many cases which could contribute to solutions for talent retention in small communities. As a result, IT was also added as a sector strategy/career pathway priority for the area.

All the changes in vision and processes resulted in significant increases in enrollments of participants in Title I training services. The area has experienced a 250% increase in Title I enrollments over the last four years. Included in that is an increase in OJT training of over 200%, as well. Of the Title I Adult/DW funding, the eastern area consistently expends 60% or more in direct participant support through ITAs, OJTs, and supportive services. We’ve been able to maintain this percentage while adding staff at both the sub-recipient and board levels to implement expanded services and programs.

The OSO and board identified system/staff development activities that would benefit all partners in the system. The trainings were developed or purchased and made available to all partners. Some examples of this include having Melanie Arthur, a nationally recognized workforce consultant, provide a 4 day training event designed to increase the system coordination across partners. This was not only very well attended by local area partners and stakeholders but by other local board staff and operators. Following the concept of better trained staff will result in higher levels of services to our customers, the board purchased training materials for field offices to engage in becoming certified workforce development professionals and made this certification available to all staff working in the WCC offices including staff from the Title I, Title III and veterans programs. Training offered to partners after the pandemic to assist them in providing services included areas such as conflict resolution and de-escalating techniques and how to provide a face to face feel in a virtual environment.

The Covid pandemic forced the OSO and office staff to identify ways to deliver services and obtain documents in a virtual environment. This resulted in the creation of new YouTube channels and Facebook live events to increase access to workshops and information to for individuals whose employment was impacted as a result of the pandemic. This also provided an opportunity for AE staff to provide training to partner programs on the utilization of video conferencing to manage and deliver services to their participants. One challenge faced by the AEL programs was proctoring of basic skills assessments. The cross training and leveraging of staff in the system allowed the youth career coaches to assist the AEL program with administering those tests to potentially Title I eligible youth.

Increases in cyber-attacks nationally over the last several years and more so in the wake of Covid, made the evaluation of local office networks a priority for the board and operator. This evaluation resulted in the identification of a need to upgrade the hardware systems in the offices to create private networks for each office and add additional security measures to protect them. This also created better access for staff to technical support.

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STRATEGIC PLANNING ELEMENTS

A. Economic and Workforce Analysis

I. Economic Conditions

Include a regional analysis of economic conditions including existing and emerging in-demand industry sectors and occupations

II. Employment Needs of Employers

Include a regional analysis of employment needs of employers in existing and emerging in-demand industry sectors and occupations

III. Knowledge and Skills Needed

Describe the knowledge and skills needed to meet the employment needs of the employers in the region, including employment needs in in-demand industry sectors and occupations

IV. Regional Workforce Information

Include an analysis of the regional workforce, including current labor force employment and unemployment data, information on labor market trends, and educational and skill levels of the workforce, including individuals with barriers to employment.

Strategic Planning

The Eastern Area Workforce Development Board (EAWDB) area is comprised of twelve counties and approximately forty-four thousand square miles. The population of the area based on 2019 census estimates is 367,646 and equates to approximately 18% the New Mexico population. The population density of the area is 8 people per square mile compared to 17.3 for New Mexico and 92.9 for the U.S. Ten of New Mexico’s thirty-three counties show growth between 2010 and 2019 with four of those falling in the southeastern area of the state. The state’s estimated growth over the nine-year period is 37,650 or 2.5% with 9,935 or 26% of that growth occurring in the east. Otero, Eddy and Lea’s population expansion of 6%, 9%, and 10% respectively represent the highest growth percentages and was largely due the oil and gas industry. The data also reflects double digit decreases in the area’s most rural counties of De Baca, Harding and Union ranging from 10% to 14% with Quay county not far behind at a decrease of 9%. This would indicate a loss of talent for those communities which could hinder future economic development activities and a decrease in services available due to lack of workforce. This has and will continue to be an area of concern for the EAWDB.

Regional specific data available are projecting decreased employment opportunities through 2024 in most industries. Based on this information the EAWDB has identified three key areas of employment to concentrate strategic efforts. They are Healthcare, Education, and Information Technology. These industries provide areas of employment to a wide variety of jobseekers with opportunities for both skilled, work-ready participants and transitional job seekers. Moreover,

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employment opportunities in these industries allow for advancement through identified career pathways. While IT is not currently listed as a growing and demand industry by area LMI data or local community needs assessments, meeting with local health care providers identified a growing need for Health Information Technicians to manage patient data. Additionally, the escalation of frequency and sophistication of cybercrimes coupled with increases in cloud computing has increased the demand for IT security professionals. Information from the USDOL indicated a post Covid 19 increase in IT jobs with telework capacity such as cyber security, systems analysts and coding which have the capacity to telecommute. The EAWDB is currently working with the Carlsbad Schools and ENMU Ruidoso focusing on cyber security and health information technicians.

ENMU Ruidoso’s cyber security program has been nationally recognized as a center of excellence and is working with a consortium of colleges around the country to build IT related training and apprenticeships with stackable and portable credentials. The consortium is working with a large group of government and private employers fully invested in the training. Increasing the availability of high paying telework positions through training and certification development is one strategy to assist local communities with talent retention and increase economic diversity and stability of local communities.

The oil and gas industry and government facilities operated in the area have also reported increased need for qualified IT professionals. This is primarily in Lea, Eddy, Otero, and Curry counties. As a result, the secondary and post-secondary schools in Lea and Eddy counties are currently developing IT career pathway training with early college credit in cyber security and systems analysis. The board is part of the advisory council for the Eddy county project and will be working with the Lea county project upon completion of the new training facility that is being built there. The local employers are also engaged with the schools in the planning and development of these career pathway trainings.

The EAWDB seeks to work with education, economic development, and industry partners to develop both increased awareness of existing career ladders and in the design of career pathways not currently in place in the eastern area.

Over the next year, the fastest growing occupation group in the EAWDB Area is expected to be Healthcare Support Occupations with a +2.2% year-over-year rate of growth which already has a shortage of skilled workforce. The strongest forecast by number of jobs over this period is expected for Construction and Extraction Occupations (+292 jobs) and Healthcare Support Occupations (+105). Over the same period, the highest separation demand (occupation demand due to retirements and workers moving from one occupation to another) is expected in Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations (2,188 jobs) and Construction and Extraction Occupations (2,132).

With increased emphasis placed on skilled apprenticeships in WIOA, the EAWDB will be working with the Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training, the regional apprenticeship coordinator,

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educational partners and employers in the eastern area and throughout the state to facilitate increased participation in established apprenticeships, as well as, development of additional apprenticeships to support our efforts in Education and, as opportunities are identified, in other areas such as construction trades, mining and extraction, Information Technology and Healthcare. Local community colleges already have training to support the employment needs in those industries and they are included on the state’s eligible training provider list as eligible for WIOA Title I funding. The area will continue to utilize these training opportunities to support the needs of the local labor market and work with training providers on the identification and development of additional training options as local needs change. The board has begun conversations with some of the local training providers to participate in advisory committee/council groups to assist with this.

As depicted below in data obtained from the American Community Survey, 18.5% of the population in the area are living in poverty. While this is 1.5% lower than the N.M. figure it is 4.4% higher than the national average. 17.0% of households are receiving public assistance from the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) or Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). This percentage is 0.1% higher than the state and 4.8% higher than the national percentage of 12.2%. In line with this are the numbers of disconnected youth at 5.3% or 939 youth, ahead of the state figures by 0.7% and national figures of 2.6%. The area is also higher than state and national figures for individuals “18-64 with a disability” and individuals that “speak English less than very well”.

Eastern area American Community Social Survey Data

The average annual wage growth for the area was 5.9% over the preceding four quarters. The average annual wages in the region at the end of the 1st_{quarter of 2020 were $49,765}

approximately $3,300 higher than NM averages and $8,000 below national averages. Hand in hand with that are the cost of living index in the east being 1.4 points higher than New Mexico but 6.5 points below the nation. The wage growth is substantially impacted by the oil and gas industry and by the low unemployment rates in the region. Prior to the pandemic even fast food restaurants in Lea and Eddy counties were paying wages significantly higher than in other parts

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of the state due to labor shortages. The Carlsbad School system has one of the higher wage scales in the state to compete with the oil industry for employees.

The table below represent the population data projections by county as well as the estimates for increases and decreases previously discussed as compiled and calculated from the U.S. Census data.

Annual Estimates of the Resident Population for Counties in New Mexico: April 1, 2010 to

July 1, 2019

Geographic Area _{Census Estimates}April 1, 2010 Population Estimate (as of July 1)

Base 2010 2015 2019 Difference %Change

New Mexico 2,059,179 2,059,199 2,064,552 2,089,291 2,096,829 37,650 2%

.Chaves County, New Mexico 65,645 65,648 65,720 65,825 64,615 -1,030 -2%

.Curry County, New Mexico 48,376 48,376 48,971 50,290 48,954 578 1%

.De Baca County, New

Mexico 2,022 2,024 2,031 1,873 1,748 -274 -14%

.Eddy County, New Mexico 53,829 53,828 53,909 57,715 58,460 4,631 9%

.Guadalupe County, New

Mexico 4,687 4,688 4,695 4,350 4,300 -387 -8%

.Harding County, New Mexico 695 695 690 719 625 -70 -10%

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Source: https://www.census.gov/data/datasets/time-series/demo/popest/2010s-counties-total.html

The following table reflects the labor force, employment and unemployment data for the area, by county, from largest workforce to the smallest. As reflected in the table below the area’s total labor force as of January 2020 is 166,823 with 7,103 unemployed or a 4.3% overall unemployment rate for the area. The counties range in civilian labor force. Eddy county represents the largest labor force at 36,299 and Harding county the smallest at 284. Eddy county with the largest labor force also has the lowest unemployment rate of 3.0%. Those larger counties of Eddy, Lea Chaves, Otero and Curry have a combined civilian labor force of 143,029, 86% of the area’s total labor force and unemployment rate of 4.2%. The remaining seven counties contain a combined workforce of 23,794 and unemployment rate of 4.8% with county workforce numbers ranging from 8,734 in Lincoln to 284 in Harding county.

January 2020 Employment Data

County Labor Force Employed Unemp. Unemp. %

Eddy 36,299 35,200 1,099 3.0% Lea 32,581 31,239 1,342 4.1% Chaves 27,419 26,046 1,373 5.0% Otero 25,098 23,843 1,255 5.0% Curry 21,632 20,737 895 4.1% Lincoln 8,734 8,296 438 5.0% Roosevelt 7,820 7,472 348 4.5% Quay 3,125 2,962 163 5.2% Union 1,664 1,593 71 4.3% Guadalupe 1,459 1,384 75 5.1% De Baca 708 676 32 4.5% Harding 284 272 12 4.2% Totals 166,823 159,720 7,103 4.3%

Source: NMDWS Jan 2020 Monthly Employment Release

The composition of the workforce as detailed in the table below reflects that 57.7% of the civilian population 16 years of age or older engaged in the workforce. This compares to 57.8% for New Mexico and 63.2% in the USA. For prime age workers ages 25-54 the region reflects a 74.4% participation rate, compared to 76.2% for New Mexico and 81.8% for the U.S.A. Armed forces

.Lincoln County, New Mexico 20,497 20,493 20,450 19,352 19,572 -925 -5%

.Otero County, New Mexico 63,797 63,832 64,403 64,768 67,490 3,693 6%

.Quay County, New Mexico 9,041 9,040 9,064 8,445 8,253 -788 -9%

.Roosevelt County, New

Mexico 19,846 19,840 20,018 19,137 18,500 -1,346 -7%

.Union County, New Mexico 4,549 4,553 4,541 4,163 4,059 -490 -11%

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labor is only 1.3% or 2,937 people with New Mexico at .6% and the U.S.A at .4% indicating the area’s high economic dependency on its bases.

The area’s total employment spotlight as shown below, based on the 1st_{quarter of 2020,}

indicates a regional employment number of 132,726 with average wages of $49,765. These figures reflect an increase in employment of 1.3% over the last ten years, compared to the national average of 1.4%, and a 3.3% increase in wages compared to 2.6% for the U.S. Top Industry growth areas are:

 Support activities for mining up 8.6%, approximately three times the national average;  Restaurants and other eating places up 2.0%, slightly behind the national average; and  Elementary and secondary schools, up .4%, almost double the national average.

EMPLOYMENT

132,726

Regional employment / 159,602,206 in the nation

WAGES

$49,765

Avg Wages per Worker / $57,624 in the nation

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The breakdown of employment is:  78.6% private,

 5.0% self-employment,  10.4% local government,  2.8% state government,  1.6% federal government, and  1.5% other non-covered.

Employment has been somewhat inconsistent within several of the top ten area industries over the last five years while wages have climbed somewhat steadily except for some short downturns. The highest annual demand and expected growth industry is support activities for mining. Growth in this industry is projected to be 2.3% annual growth and an annual demand of 1,661 With the wages for this industry averaging $74,875 annually, it is the region’s 2nd_highest

wage industry behind crude petroleum extraction which averages $128,329 that only employs 2,761, has an annual demand of 246. This industry is projected for negative growth of .2%. Five year employment history data indicates a steady climb from 2015/2016 to early 2020 in Mining, Restaurants, General Medical and surgical hospitals and oil and gas industry occupations but also steady declines in dairy cattle and milk production that currently averages an annual demand of 343 workers with average wages of $37,692. This industry is also forecasted to have a negative growth of 1.0%. Supermarkets and grocery stores are also projected for a decline of 0.3% in the future. Hotels saw a recent steep decline and represents a negative growth of 0.3%

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5-Digit Industry Empl Avg Ann Wages 5yr History DemandAnnual

Forecast Ann Growth

Support Activities for Mining 12,875 $74,703 1,661 2.3%

Restaurants and Other Eating Places 10,702 $17,626 1,876 0.8%

Elementary and Secondary Schools 7,880 $44,758 694 -0.4%

General Medical and Surgical Hospitals 3,813 $53,639 293 0.1%

Dairy Cattle and Milk Production 3,010 $37,692 343 -1.0%

General Merchandise Stores, including

Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters 2,941 $27,491 401 -0.4%

Oil and Gas Pipeline and Related Structures

Construction 2,825 $63,241 352 2.2%

Crude Petroleum Extraction 2,761 $128,329 246 -0.2%

Supermarkets and Other Grocery (except

Convenience) Stores 2,172 $23,284 312 -0.3%

Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels 2,117 $18,589 284 -0.3%

Remaining Component Industries 81,612 $40,858 8,929 -0.1%

Total - All Industries 132,726 $49,765 15,158 0.5%

The number of All Industries establishments in the area in 2018 was 8,957 an increase of 724 from 2008. This growth was mostly consistent over the ten-year period with small declines between 2012/2013 and 2016/2017 and a significant increase of 295 from 2017-2018. The overall industry growth has resulted in an increase of 4.7% of the GDP over timeframe reflecting a $258,000 output per worker as compared to $232,000 national average making the eastern area significant to the economic productivity of the state. The majority of this is of course from the sector of mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction however real estate was strong as well.

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15 Skill Needs

Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the number of individuals unemployed in the Eastern area. The graph below shows the non-seasonally adjusted number of individuals unemployed, the number of job openings advertised online, and the ratio of the number of unemployed to number of job openings advertised online in the Eastern area in August 2020. The estimated total number of individuals unemployed in August 2020 in the Eastern area was approximately 18,026. The total number of job openings advertised online was 9,936. There were 1.81 unemployed persons per job opening advertised online in August 2020. Due to the increased number of unemployed individuals, the amount of people selected to participate in the RESEA program will also significantly increase.

Source: NMDWS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics program in conjunction with the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Online advertised jobs data https://www.jobs.state.nm.us/vosnet/analyzer/results.aspx?enc=yXACq8laxhcMaihhLcxBD5PtwB1fl4tgdTbBf2/YGek=

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Five-year pre-Covid projections for the area show strong labor surpluses in food preparation, sales and office and administrative support industries with surplus ranging from in excess of 1,000 to slightly over 400. This is an industry that, based on Covid Recovery models will remain in negative growth for more than three years. There are smaller surpluses in the transportation and material moving and farming, fishing and forestry industries of more than 200 for each occupational group. These occupations indicated either surpluses based on 2020 1st_{quarter data}

or negative growth. Individuals working in these areas of declining need or surplus are prime candidates for targeted outreach for upskilling to meet the needs of emerging and growing employment areas. The greatest projected shortage is in the health practitioners and technical as well as management occupations with shortages estimated to be over 330. Shortages in the: architecture and engineering; installation, maintenance and repair, construction and extraction occupations are all projected to be more than 100 persons each.

Potential Average Annual Occupation Gaps over 5 Years in EAWDB eastern area

Occupation Current Employme nt 2020Q1 Annual Growth Deman d Projected Employme nt 2030 Accumulate d Supply 2025 Accumulate d Demand 2025 Labor surplus/ shortag e

Food Preparation and Serving

Related Occupations 14,338 105 15,391 8,689 7,657 1,032

Sales and Related Occupations 14,110 -26 13,846 7,171 6,421 750

Office and Administrative Support

Occupations 17,091 -99 16,102 6,682 6,263 419

Transportation and Material Moving

Occupations 13,345 58 13,923 5,746 5,486 260

Farming, Fishing, and Forestry

Occupations 3,038 -26 2,780 1,615 1,396 219

Production Occupations 5,835 6 5,892 2,386 2,266 120

Building and Grounds Cleaning and

Maintenance Occupations 4,620 9 4,709 2,082 1,966 116

Personal Care and Service

Occupations 3,257 17 3,428 1,676 1,564 112

Protective Service Occupations 3,371 -5 3,318 1,226 1,172 54

Educational Instruction and Library

Occupations 8,727 -14 8,591 2,692 2,698 -6

Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports,

and Media Occupations 1,474 0 1,476 498 510 -12

Legal Occupations 874 4 910 197 214 -17

Healthcare Support Occupations 5,836 140 7,232 2,700 2,743 -43

Life, Physical, and Social Science

Occupations 1,517 11 1,624 449 496 -47

Computer and Mathematical

Occupations 1,614 7 1,687 393 440 -47

Community and Social Service

Occupations 2,320 23 2,550 877 935 -58

Architecture and Engineering

Occupations 2,806 24 3,046 760 860 -100

Installation, Maintenance, and

Repair Occupations 7,492 48 7,977 2,535 2,654 -119

Construction and Extraction

Occupations 17,762 329 21,051 7,397 7,536 -139

Business and Financial Operations

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Management Occupations 10,065 24 10,304 2,648 2,978 -330

Healthcare Practitioners and

Technical Occupations 6,453 55 7,008 1,196 1,555 -359

Source: JobsEQ occupation are as of 2019 and represent the average for all Covered Employment. For MSAs, state, and the nation, wages in this analytic are aggregated from the county level details and so may not match exactly the wages for these types of regions shown elsewhere.

The percentage of people participating in the workforce that do not have a high school diploma for the area is 18.3% or 26,824 individuals. This percentage is significantly higher than the state and US percentages of 13.8% and 11.2%. The percentage of the workforce with a bachelor’s degree or higher (17.0%) is significantly lower than state (26.1%) and U.S (32.9%) percentages.

Source: JobsEQ Industry Snapshot.

This presents an opportunity for the board to partner with local communities, employers and partners to develop “earn and learn” models for upskilling the existing workforce such as OJT and apprenticeship.

Education Levels

Expected growth rates for occupations vary by the education and training required. While all employment in the EAWDB area is projected to grow 0.5% over the next ten years, occupations typically requiring a postgraduate degree are expected to grow 0.4% per year, those requiring a bachelor’s degree are forecast to grow 0.5%, and occupations typically needing a 2-year degree or certificate are expected to grow 0.8% per year.

Source: JobsEQ, Employment by occupation data are estimates as of 2020E1. Education levels of occupations are based on BLS assignment. Forecast employment growth uses national projections from the BLS adapted for regional growth patterns.

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Certifications needed were basic life support (BLS), registered nurses (RN), driver’s license, and certification in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). With basic certifications, such as CPR and BLS, the board will start investigating resources that provide the training to be offered at the WCCs quarterly for job seekers and employers.

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Hard skills identified were Microsoft programs such as Word and Excel. Soft skills identified are communication, customer service, teamwork, self-motivated. If these hard or soft skills are identified, staff can educate the job seeker or employer of self-paced courses to improve such hard or soft skills by utilizing the online training, Alison.com within the NMWC.

Education levels show most of the requirements being high school diploma or equivalency followed by the requirement of a bachelor’s degree. Once identified as an individual that might benefit from additional literacy skills or in need of a high school equivalency (HSE) the individual can be referred to the AEL and Title I adult, dislocated worker or youth programs for eligibility, enrollment, and services.

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20 The area’s sub-regions

Driving strategy in the region cannot be done without drilling down to the sub-regions within the eastern boundaries. There are four of these within the area and some of these share economic regions with the surrounding Texas counties. They are grouped by geographic, economic and employment market similarities. The areas are comprised of the following county groupings:

 Union, Harding, Quay, and Guadalupe;  Curry, Roosevelt, and De Baca;

 Lea, Chaves, and Eddy;  Lincoln and Otero counties.

Union, Harding, Quay, and Guadalupe Counties

These four counties represent the north east portion of the region with a combined population of 17,289 based on the American Community Survey data for 2014-2018. The civilian labor force is 6,208 with a participation rate of 44%. 14.6% of individuals 25-64 possess a bachelor’s degree or higher compared to 32.9% of the nation. The average annual wages in the 4th_{quarter of 2019}

increased 5.2% over the previous 4 quarters making average annual wages for these counties $33,092.

The largest employment sector for this area is accommodation and food services employing 933 workers. The next largest sector is retail trade at 905 workers followed by health care and social assistance employing 837. Educational services and agricultural employment make up the lion share of remaining employment opportunities.

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21 Source: JobsEQ, http://www.chmuraecon.com/jobseq

The sectors with the highest average wages per worker are:

 Management of companies and enterprises $64,691,

 Utilities $54,277, and

 Finance and Insurance $47,512.

Jobs EQ indicates the regional sectors with the best job growth (or most moderate job losses) over the last 5 years are Administrative and support and waste management and remediation. Expected growth rates for occupations vary by the education and training required. While all employment in Union, Harding, Quay and Guadalupe Counties is projected to contract 1.1% over the next ten years, occupations typically requiring a postgraduate degree are expected to contract 0.7% per year, those requiring a bachelor’s degree are forecast to contract 1.0% per year and occupations typically needing a 2-year degree or certificate are expected to contract 0.8% per year.

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The nominal GDP expanded 4.4% in 2018 for a total of $502,269,000 with primary contributor in the area being real estate.

Curry, Roosevelt, and De Baca Counties

These three counties, based on data from the American Community Survey have a combined population of 71, 376 and a civilian labor force of 31,708 with a participation rate of 60.9%. 20.9% of individuals 25 to 64 have a bachelor’s degree compared to 17.0% for the local workforce development area. In March of 2020 the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the counties was 4.4% an increase of 0.3% from the same time frame for the previous year.

The average annual wages for the area are $39,229 as of the 4th quarter of 2019 representing a 3.0% increase over the preceding four quarters. These figures are approximately $10,000 and 2.9% lower than the averages for the Eastern area averages respectively.

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For the three counties, the largest employment sectors and employment numbers are:  Health care and social assistance (16.6%) 4,282;

 Retail trade (11.9%) 3,085; and

 Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting (11.8%) 3,036.

Educational services and accommodation and food services both employ around 10% of the workforce.

The sector of employment for the counties with the highest average wages are:

 Utilities $68,543;

 Transportation and warehousing $60,745; and  Agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting $52,801.

The employment sectors with the best job growth over the last 5 years are accommodation and food services (+214), health care and social assistance and agriculture (+149), forestry fishing and hunting (+137). Prior to the pandemic the area was projected to lose 104 jobs with the highest growth in the health care and social assistance industry with accommodation and food services and construction remaining almost flat.

The industry cluster in the Curry, Roosevelt, and De Baca Counties with the highest relative concentration is Agricultural with a location quotient of 8.71. This cluster employs 3,117 workers in the region with an average wage of $53,659. Employment in the Agricultural cluster is projected to contract in the region about 1.1% per year over the next ten years.

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Location quotient and average wage data are derived from the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages, provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, imputed where necessary, and updated through 2019Q2 with preliminary estimates updated to 2019Q4. Forecast employment growth uses national projections from the Bureau of Labor Statistics adapted for regional growth patterns.

The GDP for this area expanded 3.0% and is significantly down from 2010.

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Lea, Chaves, and Eddy Counties

The Permian basin is an area that covers approximately 86,000 square miles in west Texas and eastern New Mexico that is the single largest oil producing basin in the United States. Three counties of the area fall within that basin: Lea, Eddy, and Chaves. The Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction in New Mexico employed 26,483 individuals. Sixty five percent (65%) of those jobs or 17,088 were in the eastern area and primarily in the counties included in the Permian basin. Employment in the Oil & Gas industry declined dramatically during the recession of 2008. The industry had not only recovered in 2019 but was booming with projected continued growth of 300% over the next ten years. This was generating significant revenue for the local communities as well as the state’s overall budget. The boom in this industry was creating massive increases in wages, employment, and growth in the region across several industries such as construction, and transportation and material moving. However, at the end of 2019 oil prices began plummeting resulting in layoffs in this industry. This has a trickle effect that creates decreases in the construction, hospitality and leisure, retail and transportation, and material moving industries since oil and gas is the primary economic driver for this area.

The layoff numbers began increasing more rapidly at the end of February 2020 and in March, New Mexico began experiencing the impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic. The stay at home requirements further impacted oil prices resulting in a massive decline of oil operations within the Permian basin. As of September 2020, the New Mexico Oil and Gas Association (NMOGA) is predicting a small uptick in operations for October 2020, hopefully marking the beginning of recovery for this industry.

Based on 1st_{quarter 2020 employment data, this region employed over 93,000 people with}

averages wages of $55,025. This accounts for most of the employment within the local area. Support activities for mining had an average annual change in employment over the last ten years of 8.6%. The largest sector in the region is mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction at 18.2 % employing a total of 16,963 followed by construction at 10.3% with 9,579 workers. The retail trade employed almost as many people as construction at 10.2% with 9,502 individuals working in the sector.

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Employment and Wages

Industry Snapshot

Total workers for Lea, Chaves and Eddy Counties

Over the last ten years ending in 2019, employment over all industries for this area added 15,484 jobs.

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Industry Snapshot

Employment Wages

4-Digit Industry Empl Avg Ann Wages LQ 5yr History DemandAnnual

Forecast Ann Growth

Support Activities for Mining 12,838 $74,767 64.88 1,657 2.3% Restaurants and Other Eating Places 7,007 $18,653 1.10 1,257 1.2% Elementary and Secondary Schools 5,197 $44,166 1.08 472 -0.1% Utility System Construction 3,407 $65,084 10.01 416 2.2%

Oil and Gas Extraction 3,253 $122,020 36.64 289 -0.2%

Specialized Freight Trucking 2,234 $77,372 7.88 260 1.0% Justice, Public Order, and Safety Activities 1,974 $71,495 1.75 189 0.5% General Medical and Surgical Hospitals 1,928 $62,106 0.55 165 0.9% General Merchandise Stores, including

Warehouse Clubs and Supercenters 1,918 $29,462 1.68 272 0.1% Building Equipment Contractors 1,814 $60,334 1.27 212 1.3% Remaining Component Industries 51,515 $45,565 1.01 5,985 0.3%

Total - All Industries 93,097 $55,025 1.00 11,082 1.0%

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Private sector jobs make up 82.6% of employment in this area and 3.7% are self-employed. The number of establishments increased by 740 to 5,654 from 2008 to 2018. New business formation is a large source of the increase in employment numbers. The largest sector pathways for the region include food and beverage; secretaries and administrative assistants, except legal, medical and executive; and heavy and tractor trailer truck drivers. All of these sectors are driven primarily by the mining and oil and gas extraction industries.

The expected growth rates for occupations vary by the education and training required. Overall employment is projected to grow 1.0% over the next ten years however, occupations requiring a bachelor’s degree or higher are projected at 0.9%. The highest growth is withing jobs that require little or no experience.

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Wage trends for this area over the last ten years have mostly exceeded the state and national averages except for short periods in 2011 and 2016.

The GDP for these counties for 2019 was $15 billion dollars an increase of 5.1% in the last 10 years compared to 4.0% for the nation. Output per worker was $301,000 compared to $232,000 annually.

Lincoln and Otero Counties

The counties of Lincoln and Otero are the regions south western 2 counties. Economic drivers for these counties are primarily military facilities and tourism. Otero county is home to both White Sands Missile Range (WSMR) and Holloman Airforce Base (HAB). WSMR attracts many visitors with its bright white “sands” that are gypsum for its historical significance to world war II nuclear testing. Lincoln county is popular with tourists as the “stomping grounds” of both Billy the Kid and Smokey Bear. Lincoln county is a scenic mountainous area with several creeks, rivers and lakes attracting tourists as a popular vacation spot. The county is also home to the Mescalero Apache and the Inn of the Mountain Gods which includes Ski Apache that provides several recreational activities year-round.

Based on 1st_{quarter 2020 employment data, this region employed in excess of 26,000 people}

with averages wages of $36,072. The largest major occupation group in the Lincoln and Otero Counties is Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations, employing 3,202 workers. The next-largest occupation group in the region is Office and Administrative Support Occupations (3,168 workers) followed by Sales and Related Occupations (2,861).

Over the twelve months ending in the 1st_{quarter of 2020, employment declined 0.9% in these}

counties while the accommodations and restaurants have shown higher than national increases. Educational instruction, one of the top occupational groups has declined 1.3%.

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JobsEQ data reflects that accommodation and food services account for 17.3% of employment, healthcare and social assistance follows at 14.8%. The next three significant occupations are retail trade at 13.5%, public administration at 10.6%, and educational services at 7.3%. The remaining occupations all represent less than 5% of total employment each.

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Industry Snapshot

The industry with the highest wages is national security and international affairs with average annual wages of $67,652 followed by Justice, public order and safety activities at $64,686 which is trending down over the5 year history. The five-year history shows only 4 industries have had consistent increases. Those are:

• Individual and family services - $23,188 and annual demand of 93 •_{Traveler and accommodation - $25,062 and annual demand of 311}

•_{Executive, legislative and other govt. support - $38,382 and annual demand of 81} • General medical & surgical hospitals - $50,636 and annual demand of 74.

While elementary and secondary schools are declining that does not mean there is no demand. This industry has an annual demand of 141 and average annual wages of $35,088.

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Total Workers for Lincoln and Otero Counties

The industry cluster in the Lincoln and Otero Counties with the highest relative concentration is Public Administration with a location quotient of 2.26. This cluster employs 2,824 workers in the region with an average wage of $55,800. Employment in the Public Administration cluster is projected to contract in the region about 0.6% per year over the next ten years.

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The table below shows the employment distribution for all Industries for the Lincoln and Otero Counties. Private sector jobs make up 62.4% of employment in this area and 8.3% are self-employed. The largest sector pathway for the sub-region is food and beverage which is due to tourism.

In 2019 the GDP in Lincoln and Otero Counties expanded by 3.6% and is markedly lower than it was in 2010.

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The largest classified GDP contributor was real estate, followed by public administration and health care. Of the sectors in the Lincoln and Otero Counties, Unclassified contributed the largest portion of GDP in 2019, $1,139,361,000 The next-largest contributions came from Real Estate and Rental and Leasing ($443,357,000); Public Administration ($408,623,000); and Health Care and Social Assistance ($270,743,000).

Post pandemic (COVID 19) Information

The vast majority of data included in this analysis has been based on information prior to the Covid 19 Pandemic. Unemployment for the Region based on July 2020 data shows

unemployment rates for the Region and subregions are as follows:

 Eastern Region 9.7%

 Union, Harding, Quay and Guadalupe 7.6%

 Lea, Chaves and Eddy 10.1%

 Lincoln & Otero 11.3%

 Curry, Roosevelt and De Baca 6.9%

Economic forecasts show the Eastern region will be largely recovered in three years. Recovery and upswing in mining and oil and gas extraction area will impact this recovery significantly. Based on 5-year history Chmura economists predict for the year following the 1st_{quarter of}

2020 all job growth will be in negative numbers. The most impacted industries are

accommodation and food services showing employment growth of -4,281 and health care and social assistance with employment growth of -872. If these projections prove accurate this will mean a loss of wages over the next year of over $470 million dollars for eastern area workers.

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The employment figures in the 1st_{quarter of 2020 reflect 151,708 jobs. The projections for the}

one year following this timeframe indicate a negative employment growth of 9,733.

The two-year post COVID projections estimate that health care and social assistance; mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction; and construction will be recovered with combined growth of 644 jobs. The overall employment growth will have increased to a -597 or -0.2% across the region. The most significant negative growth will remain in accommodation and food services at -451 positions.

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COVID Two-Year Projections

The three-year projections indicate overall positive employment growth for the region of 0.4% or 1,791 jobs. Mining, quarrying and oil and gas extraction reflects the highest employment growth of 871 followed by health care and social assistance with employment growth of 623 and construction at 485 employment growth. Industries continuing to reflect negative employment growth include:

 Retail Trade -193 employment growth  Educational services -158 employment growth  Agriculture, forestry -165 employment growth

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B. Analysis of Workforce Development Activities

I. Include an analysis of workforce development activities, including education and training in the region. This analysis must include the strengths and weaknesses of workforce development activities and capacity to provide workforce development activities to address the education and skills needs of the workforce, including individuals with barriers to employment, and the employment needs of employers.

Regional Analysis of Workforce Development Activities

The workforce connection centers’ systems are designed to provide a full range of services and assistance to job seekers. Assessment of activities and services in the region is an ongoing process. The workforce development partners in the region include but are not limited to:

 DWS operated workforce programs including but not limited to; Wagner Peyser, Trade Adjustment Act (TAA), Veterans programs, Worker Opportunity Tax Credit, Unemployment Insurance, and Migrant Seasonal Farmworkers;

 Eight postsecondary education institutions made up of 1 four-year university and 7 community; colleges as well as two private institutions;

 Department of Vocational Rehabilitation and the New Mexico School for the Blind;  Adult Education and Literacy programs housed on seven community college campuses;  Carl Perkins Career Technical Education Act in the K-12 and post-secondary systems;  Job Corps;

 Senior Community Service Employment Program;  TANF; and

 WIOA Title I adult, dislocated worker and youth programs operated by the board.

The workforce development system in the eastern area provides a wide variety of services to meet the needs of the workforce including services to individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment. There are basic career services including:

 Initial assessment;

 Labor market information;

 Provision of information on demand sectors and occupations as well as the wages and training requirements for those occupations;

 Job search and placement assistance;

 Provision of information regarding the availability of supportive services  Referrals for services and assistance with accessing all partner programs

 Eligibility determination for WIOA adult, dislocated worker and youth services as well as assistance in establishing eligibility for programs of financial assistance for training not provided by WIOA; and

 Provision of information and assistance regarding filing unemployment insurance claims. The various partner programs offer a wide array of individualized career services to targeted populations including:

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 Comprehensive and specialized assessments and needs;  Development of employment plans;

 Tutoring, basic skills training and high school equivalency testing;

 Supportive services to assist individuals in obtaining or retaining employment or participating in training services;

 Group and/or individual counseling and mentoring;  Career planning and case management;

 Short term pre-vocational services;  Internships and work experience;  Workforce Preparation activities;  Financial literacy services;

 Out of area job search assistance; and

 English language acquisition and integrated education and training programs. Training services available in the system include:

 Career technical education programs;

 Occupational skills training programs including those specialized for individuals with disabilities;

 On the Job Training (OJT) to provide hands-on, earn while you learn opportunities;  Workplace literacy programs;

 Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) to help avert potential layoffs or increase the skill levels of employees;

 Customized training designed to increase the skills of workers in emerging technologies or processes; and

 Linkages to registered apprenticeships.

There are also a variety of services available to meet the needs of employers such as:  Job fairs and hiring events;

 Matching qualified candidates to available jobs;  Space for interviews and hiring;

 Layoff aversion assistance;  Pre-screening of candidates;  Specialized assessments;  Rapid response activities;

 Assistance with job postings and development of job descriptions;  Recruiting candidates;

 Partnering with training providers and employers for customized or incumbent worker training and reimbursement for portions of the associated costs;

 Workplace literacy;

 Tax credits for hiring certain categories of workers;  Assistance with employer related tax issues; and

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 On the job training to help offset extraordinary costs associated with training new employees.

Local workforce connection centers provided 105,592 services (both self-service and staff assisted) to more than 13,000 job seekers in the period from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2020. This figure included the seven offices providing in office services to 6,520 individuals in 16,360 office visits. Additional service information includes: 12,942 uses of resource room equipment by 5,818 job seekers; 2029 Title I services were provided to 452 individuals receiving training assistance; 342 supportive services to 481 job seekers and 30,746 services provided to 1346 employers.

Eastern Area NMWC Center Services

Numbers Served

Service Distinct Users Total Services

Total served Title III 13,002 105,592

Office Visits 6,520 16,360

Resource Room equipment 5,818 12,942

UI Interview 683 901

Job Fair Participants 483 523

Title I 452 2,029

Supportive Services 342 481

Source: Workforce Connection Online System (WCOS)

The number of individuals that received services by external core partners is:  DVR (approx.) 2,400

 AEL 2,062

 Job Corps 161

The Eastern area is fortunate to have a substantial number of postsecondary training institutions. The area has seven (7) community colleges, two (2) private two-year institutions and one (1) four-year university. The schools offer a wide variety of training options for individuals to pursue. A strength of the postsecondary system is the availability of adult education services that provide tutoring, training and testing for high school equivalency exams. The programs are accessible to individuals with disabilities and are able to meet the needs of students with multiple barriers. Some of the facilities also offer career technical education courses that are tied to pathways and sector related training.

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Another strength of the education system is that it is well positioned to provide training services and, in most cases, can develop programs quickly to meet the needs of system customers including individuals with disabilities. In fact, ENMU-Roswell has several vocational programs designed specifically for disabled individuals with varying levels of impairment. Most of the community colleges in the area are very adaptable and responsive to the needs of business when identified. They are easily able to create customized training programs or incumbent worker training to fit a specific training need. There is also a four-year institution that is centrally located in the region that moves individuals into a higher level of education offering many baccalaureate degrees as well as several graduate level training options.

The biggest challenge facing the workforce system is alignment of services. The system from the state level down lacks a uniform brand and vision that aligns the system partners as being the “Workforce System”. This makes uniform messaging to Chief Elected Officials (CEOs), employers and job seekers significantly more difficult. There is also a lack of coordination between the state level administrators of the WIOA state administration and Title III programs. The operator and board staff will work to better coordinate and align the Title I and Title III programs utilizing strategies such as:

• Establishing goals for each office that are tied to co-enrollment and partnership rather than program goals,

• Implementation of customer flow model and service delivery models that require coordination and collaboration to achieve, and

• Working to align and coordinate business outreach and service delivery across partner programs, both internal and external, to create more strategic services to businesses geared toward improving those quality and outcomes of those services.

One challenge with the post-secondary system is scheduling of classes. Many training programs in high demand industries are only available as full-time day courses or only enroll new students once per year. This creates challenges for career ladder advancement of individuals working in the sector that wish to upgrade their certifications and advance to the next level of their career ladder. For example, a person working as a nursing or medical assistant wishing to pursue nursing, radiology or another professional allied health certification in many cases must either stop working or change shifts in or to participate in the training to move them to the professional level. This can create other obstacles such as childcare or transportation for single parents or those with limited access to transportation. Training programs that only enroll new students annually can delay entry individual ready to apply for the program or that needs to re-take a class by almost a full year. If the person is a dislocated worker or displaced homemaker, this delay can cause interested candidates to choose other alternative training or forego training in search of currently open training or full-time employment. The board and operator will work to engage with the post-secondary institutions’ advisory committees to work with them to expand alternative training options available to customers that need them. This would provide opportunities for the working poor to obtain additional training and certifications to improve

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their employment and/or advancement opportunities and provide more opportunity for upskilling and diversifying the workforce.

Capacity

The area has many resources to deliver workforce development services to residents. The region has seven workforce offices which have full time staff available for Title I and Title III services to the twelve counties. Services to both job seekers and employers can be provided through direct access to the Workforce Connection Online System (WCOS). Employers can create job postings and search for candidates while jobseekers can create resumes and search for jobs directly without staff assistance. For employers or job seekers that need or want staff assistance that help is available through local staff in the offices. Meetings with career coaches and business representatives can be conducted virtually via Zoom and accessed from a computer, tablet, or phone. Virtual hiring events are also available to help employers recruit applicants.

Utilizing this technology, the local offices provide workshops and orientation services for job seekers on a regular scheduled service. This service has been made available to partners as well as for those that did not have access.

The region’s adult education and literacy providers provide language, literacy, numeracy, English language, workplace readiness and literacy, tutoring, and high school equivalency services to the area populations. Services are available in person and virtually for most of the programs. There are seven vocational rehabilitation offices that provide full time assistance with workforce training and employment services.

C. Strategic Vision and Goals

I. Provide a description of the local board’s strategic vision to support regional economic growth and economic self-sufficiency. This must include goals for preparing an educated skilled workforce, and goals relating to the performance accountability measures based on performance indicators.

II. Based on the economic and workforce analysis describe the board’s overall strategy for working with the entities that carry out the core programs and required partners to align resources available to the local area to achieve the strategic vision and goals.

Strategic Vision and Goals

The Eastern Area Workforce Development Board’s (EAWDB) strategic vision is to create a better prepared, more highly qualified workforce to support economic growth, diversity and self-sufficiency. The EAWDB believes the best way to achieve this is by focusing on employers as the primary customer and consumer of the system. The availability of a highly skilled, well developed workforce provides an invaluable resource to employers and economic development

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professionals alike. The board wants to promote system improvements that encourage business and economic growth in the area by training developing strategies that increase opportunities for upskilling the labor pool and by promoting policies that encourage entrepreneurship, apprenticeship and business growth.

The American Job Center (AJC) is referenced in federal policy, known as the Workforce Connection Center (WCC) in Eastern New Mexico must function as the central hub for information, resources and services to both employers and job seekers including those with barriers to employment. By integrating all partners in the system into an aligned and coordinated system, customer centered and designed, job seekers receive higher quality more relevant services that are aligned to meet the need of opportunities for self-sufficient and stable employment. Continued strategic meeting with partners will provide for a better customer experience, align with strategies and goals of the state plan and provide better services for employers, thereby supporting economic development and growth.

To achieve this the one stop operator and partners must work together to functionally align staff and services to eliminate duplication and leverage resources in support of the state plan vision. Education and training provider programs must be developed and aligned in a manner that supports career pathways, clusters and credential attainment - portable and stackable. The development of work-based learning opportunities such as: work experience, internships, on-the-job training (OJT), transitional jobs and registered apprenticeship programs that link academic and occupational learning, earn and learn, will assist job seekers to increase earning potential while helping employers fill positions. Work-based opportunities will be included as appropriate in career pathway trainings and tied directly to the employment sectors and clusters identified across the region.

The primary goals for this planning period all center around coordination and alignment of system partners and their goals to meet the needs of employers. The operator will work with partners to review data projections and indicators for economic recovery, to begin establishing strategies to prioritize workforce partner activities around immediate and future employer needs. By utilizing economic projections for recovery and real time indicators the partners can work with their customers and programs to prepare the workforce to be prepared to place individuals as demand for workers increases.

Additional workforce development goals include:

 Increase communication and participation with local CEOs;

 Improve the matching of job seekers to compatible long-term employment that will meet their needs through employer involvement, higher levels of engagement and staff development;

 Increase access to and utilization of virtual services through technology that support skill gains, credential attainment and increased employment opportunities;

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 Implementation of a referral model that streamlines processes for customers across partner programs, that includes sharing of information among internal partners and those not co-located in the WCCs;

 Establishment of training programs centered on career pathway models and apprenticeship with heavy employer involvement;

 Implementation of performance evaluation tools designed to ascertain the quality of services provided in the centers;

 Review and update of monitoring criteria to evaluate the implementation and effectiveness of system policy and process changes;

 Work with DWS, training providers and employers to expand training opportunities to increase access to apprenticeship training opportunities;

 Promote the integration of adult education with occupational education and training that increase an individual’s ability to transition to postsecondary education and obtain employment;

 Increase the effective use of technology, including distance learning, social media, telephone, instant messaging and video meetings or chat to serve more customers more efficiently; and

 Increase the access to and use of group services to maximize availability of services. Achieving all this requires a workforce development system that aligns system partners, education and training providers and programs, economic and small business developers with area employers in demand or growing industries. To accomplish this, the EAWDB must be engaged with Chief Elected Officials (CEOs) or their representatives and local economic development organizations. They will be included in community partner, strategy and process development. Communication with them must also include information on state board initiatives relevant to the local system. Board staff is planning to begin regular newsletters that provide information on local area initiatives, progress, local events such as recruiting and hiring events, and resources. It is planned to begin the 4th quarter 2020 and will be quarterly unless board members and CEOs determine it should be more frequent.

PY20 will be utilized to gather baseline data for job seeker and training services and goals to increase utilization of those services by a minimum of 10% per year over the next three years. The operator will provide Title I and III program performance data to program and area supervisors quarterly at a minimum. The information will be discussed and evaluated to help determine impacts of strategies on performance outcomes. This will allow for process and strategy changes to occur before programs experience major decreases in federal performance measures.

The implementation of a referral model was under development. However, the platform once launched was not as user friendly to external (those not located in the WCC offices) partners and, therefore, a new platform is under development to provide electronic mechanisms for tracking this and the transfer of information. The board’s operator is working with AEL programs,

WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (WIOA) LOCAL PLAN EASTERN AREA WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT BOARD PROGRAM YEARS