Economic development is intrinsically connected to workforce.

This truth is recognized by leaders in a region that has spent several decades working to diversify its economy and grow in a healthy, holistic way. An integral part of that solution is Workforce Connections, one of two Nevada local workforce development boards charged with the mission of fostering a workforce that is ready and eager to work.

“Since taking office, I have made economic diversification and workforce development top priorities for my administration,” said Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo. “Workforce Connections is an essential partner in our efforts to connect Nevadans with work training, career resources and, ultimately, rewarding and good-paying jobs.”

“We’re in the people business,” explained Jaime Cruz, executive director of Workforce Connections in southern Nevada. “We’re connecting employers to ready workers. Without the right workforce, there can’t be economic growth in southern Nevada.”

The Workforce Connections logo sums up the organization’s mission. It reads “People. Partnerships. Possibilities.” Each of those three components represents a core principle for Workforce Connections as it takes on the monumental task of convening the workforce development system in southern Nevada. “We identify the market demand for talent, then build partnerships that produce a talent supply that meets that demand,” said Cruz.

“Workforce Connections has been able to grow and provide additional resources in the arena of workforce which are kind of mind blowing,” explained Mary Beth Sewald, president and CEO of the Vegas Chamber, the largest business support organization in the state. Sewald is also a board member for Workforce Connections. “Workforce Connections is breaking new ground and creating new partnerships with organizations like the Vegas Chamber.”

On any given month, it’s estimated there are between 45,000 and 60,000 unfilled job positions in Clark County alone. Workforce Connections determines what employers need and then works to meet that demand. It does so in a number of ways, many of which are innovative, not only in the region, but in the nation. So innovative, in fact, southern Nevada’s methods are being modeled by local workforce development boards in other markets.

“Nevada’s model is unique because it takes a collaborative, data-driven approach and aligns education, economic development and industry needs,” explained Tom Burns, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Economic Development (GOED), the state agency responsible for economic growth in Nevada. “This model creates a skilled workforce pipeline tailored to Nevada’s key sectors, like advanced manufacturing, technology and clean energy. Workforce Connections complements GOED’s workforce development division by serving as a resource for job seekers and employers.”

Governed by a consortium of local elected officials who have fiduciary responsibility over the federal funds awarded to southern Nevada, Workforce Connections is comprised of a board of decision makers with optimum policy making and hiring authority in the region. The board consists of business leaders and strategic partners in economic development, labor, education and other necessary stakeholders which creates a web of leaders with a vested interest in both economic development and the role workforce plays in that process.

“I’m on the board of Workforce Connections,” said Tina Quigley, president and CEO of Las Vegas Global Economic Alliance (LVGEA), southern Nevada’s regional development authority (RDA). “They’re a great partner for us in company recruitment and attraction. They are our faucet of information as it relates to where we are going to get workforce for companies, depending on the type of company it is.”

Innovation for Growth

Workforce Connections utilizes public funding as a starting point to growth. “We strive to have an excellent level of stewardship of these public funds,” said Cruz. “We believe taxpayer money deserves a great return on investment. Whatever the investments we make in our system, we believe they should have great results.”

While this concept may seem relatively simple, the reality of administering public funds to serve a wide net of needs can be incredibly complicated. In Nevada, workforce development services have been streamlined under one name, EmployNV, to simplify the process for businesses and job seekers. The united branding is due to strong partnerships between the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) and Nevada’s two local workforce development boards, Nevadaworks in northern Nevada and Workforce Connections in southern Nevada.

As a network of American Job Centers, Nevada’s EmployNV Hubs serve businesses and potential employees, both those seeking jobs now and the community youth who will be Nevada job seekers in the future. “By working together, we’re streamlining what could be cumbersome bureaucratic government services into one access point with the EmployNV Hubs,” said Cruz.

“These are our storefronts, if you will,” he explained. “This is where people find help, where businesses go and find help.”

While a job center is not a new concept, Workforce Connections’ take on a job center is innovative in a number of ways. The organization works to place these centers where they are needed most. “We’re right where the businesses go and, when it comes to job seekers, we want to be in places where the need for our services is actually at,” explained Cruz.

For example, in the case of job seekers, these American Job Centers – called EmployNV Career Hubs – can be found in libraries, community centers, recreation centers, schools, essentially anywhere a potential worker is bound to go on any given day. In the case of businesses, the EmployNV Business Hubs can be found where a business owner already goes, like chambers of commerce, city halls and libraries. In fact, the Vegas Chamber was the first chamber of commerce in the nation to host an American Job Center at their headquarters.

These placements result in easier access to essential services while saving over $1.1 million per year in infrastructure costs. “We have 27 locations and, because of our partnerships, we only pay for one of them,” said Cruz. These cost savings are applied to assisting more businesses and job seekers.

This unique system of partnerships has attracted national attention to southern Nevada. The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB), the U.S. Conference of Mayors Workforce Development Council (USCM WDC) and the U.S. Department of Labor, among others, have visited the region and hosted meetings with the specific goal of highlighting these innovations so they can be replicated in other states.

“I’m extremely proud of Workforce Connections, Jaime and his team,” said Sewald. “The fact that all of these other workforce entities, on a national level, are coming to Nevada and using us as a template is super gratifying. And it’s gratifying to have been a part of that.”

Business Driven Strategies

Southern Nevada’s complicated workforce development system is best tackled in smaller pieces. For businesses, this means addressing workforce and training needs. But, before you can even begin, it’s important to understand what those needs are in southern Nevada.

Several years ago, economic development in Nevada became a focus for the state and seven target industry sectors were identified in southern Nevada for future growth. Those target sectors are a foundation for Nevada’s future and include:
Healthcare Services
General and Advanced Manufacturing
Information and Communication Technologies
Transportation and Logistics Technologies
Clean Technologies
Business and Financial Services
Creative Industries

Many businesses in southern Nevada are encompassed within those seven sectors and actively engaged in the region’s seven industry sector partnerships. Through the partnerships, businesses are communicating their present and future workforce needs to skill acquisition partners.

“I appreciate that they are focused on developing relationships with the industries themselves,” said Quigley. “That helps us. The more employees [Workforce Connections] has training for those industries, the easier it is for us when we go out to attract those industries.”

Workforce Connections has also embedded EmployNV Business Hub staff as talent liaisons at key business organizations like the LVGEA and Vegas Chamber to address any needs a business has when it comes to employment. These liaisons have business cards from their host organizations and act as members of the team, providing a seamless resource of information for businesses.

“They actually have three EmployNV Business Hub staff placed in our chamber offices,” said Sewald. “We were the first chamber of commerce in the entire United States to host an American Job Center. That’s allowed us to add another tool to our toolbox.”

At LVGEA, the talent liaison provides companies direct access to an expert on workforce from the get-go without having to go anywhere else. “That person is embedded in our team and has an LVGEA email address and business cards,” said Quigley. “When we have a company come, it’s easy for us to pull the talent liaison right into the meeting to talk to the company about the different programs they would be eligible for, in terms of grants and training programs. It’s our direct connection into the EmployNV Business Hubs.”

“Having those subject matter experts, housed right in our midst, collaborating and working shoulder to shoulder with the team at the Vegas Chamber, has given our team members direct access to resources we wouldn’t have access to,” added Sewald.

“It’s a competitive advantage to have the talent liaison right here,” agreed Quigley.

Benefiting Business

Providing these services and creating access for them is only the first step. For businesses to benefit, they must utilize those services. EmployNV Business Hubs were created specifically to address the needs of businesses and add to their bottom line so they can continue to grow.

Any business owner knows, finding and hiring talent costs money. A rough estimate of time and resources just to find and hire a single employee could be upwards of $5,000. When training costs to get that employee up to speed are added, businesses are potentially spending over $10,000 each time they need a new worker.

“We can eliminate that cost for a small business because we pick up those costs,” explained Cruz. “We say to them, ‘Let us work with you on the job descriptions. Let us prescreen so you only have to meet the top two candidates. Let us identify whatever training they might need, and we’ll pay for that training. We’ll provide their uniforms and tools, so they come to you ready to go.’ All those avoided costs can add tens of thousands of dollars to the bottom line of a small business.”

By helping a business with no-cost talent recruitment and bridging the gap in any missing skills potential employees might have, EmployNV Business Hubs are providing tangible ways for businesses to grow. “Just like we take the over $1.1 million we save on rent and other costs for our locations and invest it in helping more people, a business that avoids spending $20,000 on talent recruitment can use it in other areas of their business,” said Cruz. “It’s a positive impact to their bottom line.”

Building for the Future

A state cannot have real economic development without workforce development and workforce development starts and ends with people. By implementing innovations now and creating partnerships with businesses, Workforce Connections is helping set the building blocks for southern Nevada’s future successes.

Vital to the economic future of Nevada, building the workforce happens in several different ways. By once again interweaving tried and true methods with new innovations, Workforce Connections helps grow the talent pipeline.

In southern Nevada elementary schools, students are being introduced to potential, in-demand occupations through locally created workbooks called “NV My Future”. These activity workbooks are utilized in Clark County School District (CCSD) elementary schools by teachers and readily available to anyone, including parents, online at NVmyFuture.org.

For older students, there is an online platform that connects students to career paths, as well as in-person “Student Showcases” that invite employers into schools to meet with students face to face and provide internship and job opportunities. The organization also works to train CCSD support staff in workforce development through a workforce fellowship and actively seeks out youth to engage them in Nevada’s workforce system through the Disconnected Youth Initiative.

“A skilled workforce starts with a strong, foundational K-12 education,” said Dr. Brenda Larsen-Mitchell, interim superintendent for CCSD and Workforce Connections board member. “With student access to rigorous coursework, curriculum, community support and working with local employers, our talented students will excel and help keep our economy strong.”

In addition to looking in Nevada’s schools for future employees, Workforce Connections employs creative strategies, such as looking at alternative populations for workers. For example, in partnership with Hope for Prisoners, Nevada DETR, the Nevada Department of Corrections and local employers, the organization has located EmployNV Career Hubs inside the Vocational Village at the Southern Nevada Desert Correctional Facility and inside Casa Grande, a Nevada Department of Corrections transitional housing facility.

“This project is unprecedented in our state,” said Governor Lombardo of Vocational Village. “It’s only made possible by invaluable community partners. Through this project, we’re reducing recidivism by empowering offenders to gain valuable job skills. Program graduates can utilize these job skills for post-prison employment, so they can begin their next chapter with confidence.”
Providing these resources directly to people who are seeking a new start, these innovative partnerships help incarcerated individuals reenter the workforce. They also help the southern Nevada community by directly addressing business needs for ready workers.

Looking at the larger picture, Workforce Connections takes a holistic look at Nevada’s economic landscape. Leadership in the organization recognizes the great opportunity facing the Silver State. By applying both traditional and out-of-the-box ideas to workforce development, the organization is quite literally changing the economic future of southern Nevada.

“Workforce Connections is essential to Nevada’s economic future, driving workforce development and strengthening communities across southern Nevada,” said Burns. “By connecting talent with opportunity, they support businesses while empowering Nevadans to excel in high-demand, high-growth industries. To attract and sustain good-paying jobs, we need skilled professionals ready to fill them. Jaime Cruz and his team are bridging this gap by helping Nevadans access opportunities that lead to lasting career success. Their work ensures Nevada stays competitive by cultivating a workforce that meets the demands of our growing economy.”

Cruz added, “By facilitating the right partnerships, developing collaborative strategies and setting funding priorities for our region, we’re making sure that workforce development is supporting economic development in southern Nevada.”

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