Workforce Development South Carolina Smiling Faces Beautiful Places

Workforce Development South Carolina Smiling Faces, Beautiful Places SERDI TRAINING CONFERENCE MAY 18, 2015

Background State Administrator: SC Department of Employment and Workforce (SC DEW) ◦ Administers WIA/WIOA funding from the US Department of Labor ◦ Provides Wagner-Peyser services ◦ Negotiates and measures statewide and local area goals Each WIOA area/region has at least one “comprehensive” workforce center ◦ Multiple partners: Wagner-Peyser (state) staff, Vocational Rehabilitation, Department of Social Services, Adult Education, AARP, WIA/WIOA, etc. Each WIOA region has “access points” ◦ Provide WIOA services to eligible individual and referrals to other partner agencies. ◦ May have intermittent Wagner-Peyser staffing (i. e. 1 -2 days/week) ◦ Usually located in rural areas or small towns.

SC Workforce Regions § Twelve WIOA regions across the state § Ten regions area administered by COGS § Two regions are administered by county governments

Catawba Regional COG Four Counties ~ 374, 649 Population §Largest County (York) ~ 234, 608; §Smallest County (Union) ~ 28, 273 §Largest City – Rock Hill ~ 70, 000 Environment: Urbanizing to rural The Catawba Region represents approximately 16% of the Greater Charlotte MSA’s total population, and is positioned geographically at southern end of the MSA. COG Board = 36 members COG Staff = 22 Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia MSA

Catawba Regional Workforce Area Three Counties – Chester, Lancaster, York Over 5, 000 new jobs (manufacturing and professional services) announced in the Catawba Region this year. Manufacturing is making a large comeback after the demise of textile industry in the last decade. Other large industrial clusters include distribution and professional services (financial). WIOA Board = 28 members. Catawba Regional COG serves as the Administrative Entity PY 14 WIA Funding was ~ $2. 9 million COG WIOA staff of 4; Adult/Dislocated Worker/Youth and Operator Functions are contracted out.

Catawba Region’s WIA 6 Year Performance Comparison Performance Standard PY 08 PY 09 PY 10 PY 11 PY 12 PY 13 Youth Final Final Placement in Employment/Education 54. 1% 35. 8% 52. 0% 52. 5% 64. 3% 57. 5% Attainment of Degree or Certificate 47. 9% 40. 3% 50. 4% 57. 4% 70. 5% 72. 6% Literacy or Numeracy Gains-(OS-Only) 35. 3% 36. 1% 45. 1% 55. 5% 64. 2% 61. 7% Adult Entered Employment Rate-Adults 65. 5% 44. 9% 54. 0% 57. 5% 71. 2% 73. 5% Employment Retention Rate- Adults 82. 3% 77. 2% 82. 0% 81. 9% 85. 4% 89. 5% Average Earnings-Adults $10, 185 $9, 280 Dislocated Workers $10, 454 $10, 838 $11, 518 $11, 254 Entered Employments-Dislocated Workers 59. 3% 46. 4% 58. 6% 69. 5% 78. 3% 81. 1% Empl. Retention Rate-Dislocated Workers 86. 1% 82. 4% 84. 5% 88. 7% 95. 4% 94. 4% Average Earnings-Dislocated Workers *performance goals varied over the 6 years $12, 239 $11, 579 $13, 393 $16, 107 $14, 528 $15, 133 Exceeds Meets Failed

Challenges in SC • Consistent and timely metrics: Increasing state goals/performance will likely determine regions in SC after 2016. Performance is difficult to assess due to lag time in performance results. • Consistent program direction: SC DEW has some challenging personalities and has experienced repeated turnover of State Directors. • Potential conflicts of interest: Many COGs function as the operator of SC Works Offices – difficult to determine how RFPs can be completed at ‘arms length’ when the COG is also the Fiscal Agent/Administrator for area • Federal funding: Decreasing funds make balancing administrative costs difficult • Local Staffing: • Workforce staff tend to focus on operational issues, and can miss bigger (i. e. political) issues. • Each region seems to operate a little differently, making consistency difficult—particularly in responding as a group to SC DEW. • Many Disparate Parts - Local Understanding/Education: • “Workforce Development” includes many partners (not all working together) • Elected officials and the private sector

Opportunities/Solutions in SC • Active Communication: Workforce administrators meet monthly with SC DEW program staff, and COG Directors meet monthly with SC DEW Director during transition to WIOA. • Active Education: Developing clear and concise materials/PR to identify the benefits of workforce development (and WIOA’s specific role) in the local/regional economy • Local Staffing: • COG Directors should participate in WIOA Board Meetings and effectively communicate/reiterate the roles of COG vs. Workforce Board • Creatively find ways to consistently and adequately serve rural/remote areas (i. e. remote access) • Local Understanding: • Continue to educate local officials and private sector via consistent messaging in parternship with continuum of partners (Technical Education, Ready. SC, Business Services staff, SC DEW staff, etc. ) • Demonstrate increased value through Business Testimonials, Partner Testimonials, Participant Testimonials/Success Stories