| November 8, 2022 CASPER - The Wyoming Workforce Development Council approved a policy change regarding use of its discretionary reserves and continued work on updating its strategic plan during its quarterly meeting in Casper last week. The amendment to Policy 1 ensures requests for funding from the Council will flow through a grant application process. The Council can reserve up to 15% of the federal funds Wyoming receives for youth, adults, and dislocated workers to carry out statewide activities. With this policy change, the Council has added a Workforce System Support Grant to complement the Next Generation Sector Partnership Grant, which was developed several years ago. Both grant applications are available on the Council’s website. The Council is working on its strategic plan in preparation for the required rewrite of Wyoming’s Unified State Plan under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. During work sessions, the Council solidified its practical vision and had discussions regarding blocks to that vision, which led in brainstorming solutions. The solutions were grouped together into four strategic directions for the Council to focus on: • Invent an Image • Drive Collaboration with Partnerships • Create User-Friendly Technology • Engage in Community Outreach Action was taken by the Council on several funding requests and contract amendments: A Next Generation Sector Partnership grant was approved for $10,000 to create a guide for the construction sector to partner with schools as has been successfully done in Laramie County. • A request for $100,000 was approved for the Department of Workforce Services to provide training for the One-Stop staff. • A request for $15,000 was approved for the Next Gen Academy to be hosted on March 23, 2023 in Lander. • An amendment to the contract with Collaborative Economics was approved for the use and facilitation of the Next Generation Sector Partnership Model. The amendment extends the date of the contract to January 31, 2024 and adds $115,000. • An amendment to the contract with Warehouse 21 was approved for support and maintenance of the Council’s website. The amendment extends the date of the contract to January 31, 2024 and adds $3,000. • An amendment to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Wyoming Department of Education was approved for the Computer Science microcredentialing program for teachers. The amendment extends the MOU to August 30, 2024. The next meeting of the Wyoming Workforce Development Council will be held in Cheyenne on February 22-23, 2023. Meeting information is available at wyowdc.wyo.gov. Follow the Workforce Development Council on Facebook. Contact: Kari Eakins at 307-777-5287, or [email protected]. |
This project was developed by the Wyoming Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Network and funded through a Cooperative Agreement with U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) funds appropriated by Congress through the CARES Act to assist businesses in recovering from the negative effects of COVID-19. SBDC appreciates ongoing support from the SBA, The Wyoming Business Council, and the University of Wyoming.
