Narrative: III. a. 2. D.

Through the statewide visioning sessions, information was gathered from employers and others regarding their understanding of and needs and recommendations for an effective workforce development system. Each core partner has learned from experience that no one agency can successfully meet the needs of employers and workers on their own and that there is strength in the many workforce programs in Maine combining resources on behalf of shared customers. Whenever possible, interagency staff must work to leverage available funds and resources. Moving forward, partners will collaborate and seek opportunities for co-enrollment, so that available funding can support as many individuals as possible.

The outcome of employment is critical for successful engagement and retention of learners in both academic and job skills training programs. WIOA requires that the core partners coordinate activities and resources to provide comprehensive, high-quality services to employers to meet their current and projected workforce needs and to achieve the goals of industry or sector partners in the state. To meet that goal, all partners need to understand the services each has to offer, speak a common language, and promote the part that each partner plays in the system. The use of local, regional and state plans to align programs and activities is also critical to best providing services to employers. Partnerships with businesses and sector strategies will increase knowledge of current and projected workforces needs, to ensure workforce training, education and employment placement are job-driven and forward thinking.

The state plan implementation committee will be responsible for gathering information from the partners to coordinate efforts, streamline services to employers, look for opportunities that dovetail efforts with the Maine Economic and Community Development Plan and leverages resources. It will ensure that each agency can use consistent language to effectively communicate with employers that:

• Their input is required for creation of a workforce system that is committed and responsive to their needs
• Clarify the roles of each partner in the system
• Clarify what they can contribute toward establishing stackable credentials and micro-credentials that advance the progress of entry level workers
• Clarify the benefits of registered apprenticeship, internships, on the job training, customized training, incumbent worker training, and support services
• Assistance is available to help them identify skills and qualifications for in-demand employment
• Employer engagement is vital in the creation of credentials that meet their needs and that will result in employment for those who earn them
• Employer input should guide the identification of sector pathways to enter employment

Located within the Maine Department of Education, the state office of adult education provides technical and grant management support to over 70 local adult education providers throughout the state. In FY19, providers served over 13,900 adults. The majority of these adults lack the foundational skills in numeracy, literacy and work readiness needed to be competitive in Maine’s changing economy. The state director is a voting member of the State Workforce Board and local adult education programs are represented on each local workforce board. Adult education personnel at both the state and local levels participate on a number of boards and initiatives addressing the workforce needs of Maine’s employers.

In addition to the state system-wide approach, there are many activities underway with the partners in the coordination of services to employers. Examples include:

• On a quarterly basis, the Statewide Workforce Assistance Team (SWAT), comprised of core partners and other key partners responsible for providing business services, convene to share best practices, provide program updates and learn about new opportunities. SWAT participants include but are not limited to staff from the following partners: WIOA service providers, Wagner Peyser, CareerCenter, Vocational Rehabilitation, Local Veteran Employer Representatives, State-funded apprenticeship and Competitive Skills Scholarship Programs, Rapid Response and Trade Adjustment Assistance, community colleges, adult education providers, chambers of commerce, and non-profit organizations engaged in workforce development activities. SWAT meetings have been held regularly for the past three years and have been instrumental in furthering collaborative workforce development efforts amongst interested parties
• The Maine-At-Work Initiative was developed collaboratively with workforce partners and continues to be an easy way for employers to request assistance with their workforce needs. An on-line request is generated and sent to MDOL staff who either respond to the employer inquiry directly or forward it to a partner contact for response. Maine-At-Work is also marketed through a flyer enclosed with each employer’s yearly unemployment insurance tax information to prompt them to request assistance if they have any workforce development assistance needs
• Maine’s Competitive Skills Scholarship Program (CSSP) is open to individuals whose family income is at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level and who do not yet already have a marketable post-secondary degree or credential. CSSP is funded by contributions from employers through and offset from their unemployment insurance taxes. CSSP provides funding to eligible individuals for education, training and necessary support services that lead to high-wage jobs that are in demand in Maine. The education and training must be universally recognized and accepted by the trade or industry in which the participant intends to seek employment. In 2019, CSSP served 1,041 individuals
• Job Fairs are held regularly at each CareerCenter. In the larger centers, job fairs for specific sectors are held so job seekers can apply to multiple employers within a sector. Staff engage with businesses in attendance to discuss their hiring needs to better understand what the businesses are looking for
• A successful model that needs to increase in implementation is Integrated Education and Training (IET). As the name implies, this type of programming involves intentional planning to deliver the specific academic, employability skills, and workforce training to a pre-determined audience resulting in a workforce credential and or further training and employment. For example, a group of learners may be enrolled in a welding program that incorporates instruction in reading and/or math all contextualized to pertain to welding. In this instance, the academic and trades instructors might work together to identify the vocabulary and calculation assistance participants will need to be successful. The benefit of this approach is it enables participants who may be closed out of a similar welding class because of low foundational skills to participate and be successful with appropriate supports.
• Historically, adult education providers in Maine have worked independently or with small-scale partnerships for specific purposes. Recently, local programs were grouped into regional hubs to promote common standards, fiscal efficiencies, economy of scale, and greater collaboration amongst the adult education programs within the hub. Rather than compete against each other for financial resources, the emphasis is on mutual collaboration and support. This reorganization has resulted in strengthening all programs, and especially those in smaller, more rural areas. Within the boundaries of each hub there are community college campuses, a local workforce board, CareerCenters, and a University of Maine presence. Many hubs are strengthening their connections to these organizations as well as with other core partners to address the needs of employers and workers.

Local providers will continue their long-standing work of connecting with individual employers to design instructional services in response to their needs. The number of employers contracting directly with a local literacy provider for help with workforce development is growing. As appropriate, these services may include job-site classes, contextualized vocabulary, connections with occupational training, Maine College and Career Access transition programs, micro-credentials, and other means that help build the foundational skills of students while preparing them for successful employment

• The Bureau of Rehabilitation Services (BRS) coordinates and aligns services to employers that will encourage and support them in the hiring of individuals with disabilities. Partners will inform employers of the value in Maine’s Workplace & Disability Connection, which is housed at the Retail Association of Maine and supported by the Maine Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services. The network provides a forum that encourages business-to-business discussions about hiring, retaining and career advancement of people with disabilities. BRS also utilizes in-house staff to help provide the needed connections between Vocational Rehabilitation staff, clients seeking employment, providers, and employers. To do this, BRS learns the needs of employers and connects them with clients that have the strengths, abilities, and interests to meet those needs. BRS is starting this process at a younger age, working with youth through a model adopted from Vermont, called Progressive Employment, currently being offered in four Division of Vocational Rehabilitation offices. Maine’s Progressive Employment initiative takes a dual customer approach to meet the needs of employers and Maine youth with disabilities by matching them to activities such as: job tours, interviews, job shadows, work experience, and on-the-job training. These experiences give the employer the opportunity to meet their next generation of workers at little to no risk while also assisting the youth to build employment skills

Future activities identified during this state plan period related to the coordination, alignment, and provision of services to employers include:

• Business outreach tools developed with cross-agency partner input: Tools will be developed to support an integrated, seamless system of services to businesses. New marketing and outreach tools will be co-developed by members of the business response teams from education, economic and workforce development. Integrated business assistance marketing tools will stress services over programs and promote no-wrong-door access, whereby businesses can rely on single point of contact to access the full menu of services.

Similarly, a business needs assessment tool to be used by business outreach team members to assess needs pertaining to workforce and other business challenges will be created with partner and employer input. Use of the common tool will ensure business needs are easily communicated and assigned to specific partners.

An integrated service response tool will be developed to outline response actions, agency resource commitments, employer commitments, and expectations. This tool will be accessible, easy to understand, and serve as a plan to be followed by the employer and the multiple service agencies responding to the business needs.

• Employer/Business Response Team - No-Wrong Door State and regional-level business response teams will be identified and cross-trained. These teams will include leads from agencies with resources and capacity to assess and address business needs (both economic and workforce). Business response team members will attend ongoing cross-training necessary to understand and represent the full menu of services and to ensure a single point of access by which employers can acquire the information and resources necessary to address their workforce and business development needs.

Business response teams at the state and regional levels may include representatives from three key resource areas:

• Workforce development:
  • Employment services (MDOL’s Bureau of Employment Services and Bureau of Rehabilitation Services) on behalf of:
    • Apprenticeship
    • Competitive Skills Scholarship Program -Business
    • Federal Bonding Program
    • Foreign Labor Certification Program
    • Labor Exchange
    • Rapid Response
    • Reemployment Initiatives
    • SafetyWorks
    • Trade Act
    • Veteran’s Services
    • Work Opportunity Tax Credit
    • DHHS - TANF (Fedcap – Parents as Scholars – LIFT – HOPE)
    • Title IB service providers (Adult, Dislocated Worker, Youth)
    • Vocational Rehabilitation (Division of Vocational Rehabilitation & Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired)
    • Pre-Employment Transition Services
    • Workforce boards
• Education and Training:
  • Adult Education
  • Career and Technical Education Secondary Schools
  • Job Corps
  • Maine Community College System
  • Private schools, colleges, universities
  • Trade skills training entities
  • University of Maine System
  • Educate Maine
• Economic Development
  • Center for Workforce Research and Information (CWRI)
  • Department of Economic and Community Development
  • Regional and municipal economic development entities
  • Small Business Association
  • Small Business Development Centers
  • May also include (as appropriate):
    • Coastal Enterprises, Inc.
    • Employer representatives
    • Finance Authority of Maine
    • Live and Work in Maine
    • Maine Chamber of Commerce
    • Maine Development Foundation
    • Maine Manufacturing Extension Partnership
    • Maine Rural Development Authority
    • Maine Technology Institute
    • Philanthropic entities

• Expert Business Response Team Comprehensive business support and integrated service strategies will be offered by a fully-informed business response team that has a grasp on the available resources available to be leveraged from a multitude of partner agencies. Cross-training of business response team members will include:
  • Understanding workforce development resources and who to work with at the local, regional, or state level
  • Understanding economic development resources and who to work with at the local, regional. or state level
  • Navigating education, training, and research and development resources
  • Understanding labor market and industry information and sources
  • Understanding best practices in attracting and retaining untapped labor talent pools
  • Understanding and effectively utilizing business outreach materials and tools
  • Effectively assessing employer needs and coordinating efficient low-risk responses in collaboration with business response team partners
  • Addressing employer needs using the integrated response tool approved by team partners
  • Tracking and communicating employer services to ensure follow-up and reporting of achieved outcomes

• Seamless Coordination of Services Business response teams will work behind the scenes to address industry needs using an integrated response tool as follows:
  • Using agreed-upon communication protocols to share business needs assessment data with appropriate partners
  • Within agreed-upon timeframes, partners will review and assess appropriateness of services their agency can offer and will identify the level and type of service(s) they can provide as part of the integrated service response, a point person and contact information, the dollar amount of either in-kind or cash resource to be provided, additional data required or steps the employer must take to access the resource, dates by which employer must provide information, timelines in which services/resources are to be provided, and outcomes achieved.
  • In most cases, the initial point of contact will act as lead liaison with the business on behalf of all partners and support the employer in achieving the desired outcomes and implementing the integrated service response. 

A no-wrong-door, integrated service response strategy removes the need for employers to navigate a vast and complex system of services and assures they are presented with appropriate services.  Interagency responses will promote layoff aversion activities, clarify and address perceived skill gaps, and allow workforce agencies to promote the employment of underutilized talent pools.  It will link employers to business assistance programs and technical assistance on a just-in-time basis.

Properly assessment of an employer’s workforce and business service needs is essential to developing and providing effective solutions. A collaborative approach to addressing business needs will eliminate duplication of efforts and ensure responses are developed with the focus on the employer rather than the program. As stated previously, business response team members must be those with an excellent command of the programs they represent and a good command of services/programs offered by the other partners.