Narrative: III. a. 2. D.

Identifying and Meeting the Needs of Business

Missouri uses an integrated approach to service delivery for business customers. An emphasis has been placed on products and services that assess candidate skills and provide for skills enhancement, resulting in better candidates for the business customer. Missouri has multiple initiatives to assess candidate skills, upgrade workplace skills and connect businesses with job seekers.

Each workforce area has a Business Services Team plan that guides outreach and services to businesses. Business Services Teams are made up of staff whose mission is to connect employers to a skilled workforce. To ensure an integrated service model, teams now include business representatives from Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), along with other combined partners who touch businesses. At a minimum, the members of the teams include Business Representatives and other Job Center staff assigned to business services, OJT Marketing Specialists, Local Veterans Employment Representatives, and VR Business Outreach Specialists. The design and makeup of each team varies slightly from region to region and may include a variety of other partners who work with businesses, such as local economic developers, educational agencies, UMOS (Missouri’s167 provider), Rehabilitative Services for the Blind Outreach Specialists and Family Support Division (FSD) TANF Outreach Specialists. Additionally, the Kansas City and Vicinity Region employs Disability Program Navigators, which are also included on their business services team.

Business services teams meet on a regular basis to discuss, coordinate and develop strategies to meet the specific needs of businesses in their local workforce region. Each local team has established strategies to determine business needs in their region. These include the use of labor market information, involvement and coordination with local Chambers of Commerce, local educational agencies, local and state economic developers, regional planning commissions, human resource groups and other business organizations. Each workforce region is now engaging in sector planning to better address skills gaps and create career pathways. Missouri contracted with a consultant to provide technical assistance and guidance to each region in developing sector strategies. All combined partners participated in a sector strategies statewide launch and many are participating in regional sector meetings. All workforce regions are in the process of launching regional sector partnerships with key industries. Combined partners are participating in these efforts and will collaborate to meet the needs or the targeted industries.

Business services teams are demand driven and strive to accommodate employer requests or provide referral to resources that can meet their needs. A demand-driven message is conveyed to all staff through the Workforce Development Board Directors, Business services team leaders, Job Center Functional Leaders and WIOA partner staff. Business services drives the products and services offered in the workforce system. Teams are aware of the business climate and current workforce needs of businesses in their regions. This allows the system to offer the appropriate products and services that will prepare jobs seekers to meet current demands.

Each region’s employer outreach goals and procedures, as well as each partner’s specific procedures are outline in their respective business services plans and are shared and coordinated with business services team staff and partner agencies. Those regions with high concentrations of agricultural employers also have agricultural outreach plans. Outreach is conducted to both agricultural and non-agricultural businesses on a daily basis through various methods, including regional employer meetings and forums, through local human resource groups, agricultural and other industry associations, Chambers of Commerce as well as direct contact with individual businesses. In addition, the State Monitor Advocate and regional agricultural outreach staff coordinate with the business services teams to ensure coordinated agricultural outreach.

Missouri encourages a single point of contact system. Each regional team has developed protocols and procedures necessary to avoid duplication of efforts and are outlined in their regional business outreach plans. A common case management system, Toolbox, now known as MoJobs, is available to workforce system staff to document employer contacts and services provided. Through WIOA collaboration, the Toolbox system will be utilized by all VR Business Representatives and other combined partner staff that touch businesses to document their business contacts. A common database allows business team members to better coordinate and avoid duplicative employer contacts through easy access to service notes, program participation and job order history. Through cross training and collaborative meetings with outreach staff from all partners, the business services teams have an understanding of each agency’s business focused programs and services. This allows staff to provide information on all relevant programs to business customers and to integrate and coordinate services among agencies. In addition, teams have identified common programs and services, such as on-the-job training, which can be co-marketed to employers.

With the changes in federal contractor requirements for Section 503 and VEVRAA, VR business staff and DWD veterans outreach staff have collaborated to serve employers. This reduces duplication of efforts and provides a more seamless delivery of services to these contractors.

In order to better serve employers with their diversity outreach needs, Missouri’s workforce system has partnered with VR to access technical assistance from Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) National Center on Leadership for the Employment and Economic Advancement of People with Disabilities (LEAD Center). Through this collaboration, partners have developed a statewide survey which will be sent to gather basic inclusion practices by businesses and provide opportunities for outreach to businesses for assistance in meeting their needs in connecting with qualified, diverse candidates.

To ensure continuous improvement, DWD has created two new positions aimed at improving services to business customers. The employer satisfaction coordinator will be surveying employer customers and assessing the effectiveness of services provided to businesses, determining employer satisfaction and providing feedback to workforce directors, business services teams, job center staff and partner agencies. This information can be utilized by all workforce system partners to identify issues and better coordinate to meet the needs of business. The business services coordinator will be continuously reviewing job orders with a lack of adequate referrals to identify issues and help regions and individual employers with revising orders to ensure maximum results.

Missouri has established a WIOA Employer Engagement Committee, made up of staff from all combined partner agencies, LWDB Directors, and the USDOL Office of Apprenticeship State Director. This committee has been established to provide guidance to regions, make recommendations to the WIOA State Steering Committee, and coordinate statewide meetings as needed to ensure continued partner collaboration.

Missouri has established an Apprenticeship Workgroup, made up of representatives from all combined partner agencies, the Department of Corrections, Labor Organizations, the Missouri Community College Association, the State Chamber of Commerce, Higher Education and the United Way. The Apprenticeship Workgroup is tasked with developing a statewide strategy to develop and grow registered apprenticeship opportunities across the state. This statewide workgroup and having a statewide strategy allows partner agencies to coordinate apprenticeship efforts and resources, more effectively meeting the needs of employers.

The Community Services Block Grant (CSBG) program helps meet employer’s needs through Community Action Agencies (CAA). CAAs regularly host job fairs. In addition, CAAs meet employers needs by skilling up participants through job readiness activities, supportive services, life skills training and leadership classes. All activities of the CAAs are based on a Community Needs Assessment which is conducted every 3 years. Employers and community based organizations are engaged in this process through surveys and focus groups.

The Missouri Work Assistance program (MWA) partners with employers by providing subsidized employment opportunities in which the MWA contractor pays the participants wages and On-the-Job (OJT) in which an employer hires the Temporary Assistance (TA) participant. These programs allow the MWA contractor to act as the liaison between the participant and the employer. Subsidized employment allows the employer to train and determine if the participant meets their needs for the actual job. OJT allows the employer to provide the hands-on-training needed for their business. In addition, as MWA moves forward in aligning TA with WIOA, MWA contractors are required to use labor analysis reports to analyze workforce, labor supply and demand and the regional occupational outlook of their assigned region(s) to ensure they are meeting the economic and employer demands of their region. MWA contractors are encouraged to use career pathways, create and maintain partners with local employers to learn the in-demand jobs and skills needed for the current market. The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program will encourage the MWA contractors in these avenues by placing the emphasis of a contractor's achievement by the quality of service and performance measures similar to WIOA; such as participants that become employed that have a defined career pathway and participants in OJT training or an apprenticeship.

Missouri’s Employment and Training program for Food Stamp recipients is SkillUP. DWD partners with FSD to operate the SkillUP program through the Missouri Job Centers. The vision of SkillUP is to provide a streamlined access to industry aligned training that lead to family supporting employment and sustainability. DWDs model is intended to serve the needs of employers by providing employers with a skilled workforce and to fill the workforce gap.

In addition, Missouri Pre-apprenticeship Academy has partnered with three industries (plumbing, laborer, and construction) for training and curriculum based on industry standards. This will ensure the preparation and training of individuals needed to enter one or more Registered Apprenticeship programs and further meet the needs of employers.