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Association Members meet in Washington, DC with Senator Elizabeth Warren

to discuss WIA Reauthorization

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Association Quarterly Meeting

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

School to Career Pathways

Featured: Secretary of Education Matt Malone, Senator Michael Rodrigues (I), Representative Patricia Haddad,

New Bedford Mayor Jonathan Mitchell, Greater New Bedford WIB Chair Peter Muise,

and New Bedford High School educators and students

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Secretary Goldstein Announces Health Care Workforce Fund at Association Holiday Meeting

"Healthcare Transformation: Business and Workforce Impacts of New Health Care Law"

December 12, 2012

At the Association Holiday Meeting at Massasoit Community College in Brockton, more than 100 attendees and panelists from throughout the state discussed the business and workforce impacts of new health care law. At the meeting, Secretary Joanne Goldstein announced the release of the $20 million Health Care Workforce Transformation Fund from the consolidated budget surplus.

Stan Usovicz, Association Chair, was joined by panelists Mayor Linda Balzotti of Brockton, Brockton WIB Chaur John Lloyd, Celia Wcislo, Vice President of 1199SEIU, President Charles Wall of Massasoit Community College, and David Seltz, special advisor to Governor Deval Patrick.

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Association Partners with Google to help Massachusetts Businesses Get Online

Senator John Kerry with WIB Executive Directors at Google event held at WGBH June 4-5, 2012.

For additional information go to:

www.massachusettsgetonline.com

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Workforce Reports

NEW

Summer 2013 Teen Summer Job Market

Center for Labor Market Studies

Northeastern University

Job Vacancy Survey

Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development

Job vacancies were reported for the second quarter 2012 at 74,106 representing a 2.9% rate for all industries in Massachusetts 

Read more

Governor's Task Force on Integrating College and Career Readiness Report

A task force of the state's leading educators, employers, and academic and labor experts has called for a renewed focus on career readiness to better prepare students for success beyond high school and produce a more college and career ready workforce that will drive future growth in the Massachusetts economy.

To ensure that every student graduates from high school ready to pursue the next steps on the way to a successful career or post-secondary education, the task force developed a series of recommendations, which are available in the full report, available here. 

Skills Gap Reports

Throughout the state, Commonwealth Corporation in partnership with New England Public Policy Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and each regional WIB, has been holding Regional Skills Gap Events to discuss regional labor market challenges and opportunities, and to release new labor market supply and demand data. The labor market profiles provide a detailed picture of each region's current and future labor market supply. 

For the latest regional reports, as well as the opportunity to register for upcoming events, please go to the CommCorp website.

Commonwealth of Massachusetts Jobs Creation Commission Final Report

January 2011-September 2012

2012 Jobs Creation Commission

Commonwealth of Massachusetts
Regional Workforce Investment Profiles FY2011

Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development

Secretaries Paul Reville and Greg Bialecki, CommCorp CEO Nancy Snyder and Chairman Joseph Wagner addressed Summit attendees.

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Boston Herald Reports on Summer Job Funding

Youth Pathways Legislative Briefing and Advocacy Day

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

11:00 - 12:00 PM

“It is the responsibility of government, private and non-profit sectors to give a hand up, not a handout to people who aspire to have a pathway different than that of guns, drugs and violence…it is the state’s responsibility to fund Connecting Activities and mentoring programs to provide hope and stewardship to the next generation.”

-Chairman, Thomas P. Conroy

School-to-Career Readiness

The Mass Workforce Board Association and the Workforce Solution Group call for Legislators to bolster efforts.

"The failure to integrate college and career readiness in our public schools is an immediate and growing crisis... Young adults become more inspired, engaged, and motivated when they are exposed to the workplace - and that has a direct impact on higher education."

- Gerald Chertavian, Year Up Founder & CEO, Chair of the Governor's College and Career Readiness Task Force

The jobs of today and tomorrow increasingly require advanced training and job readiness skills. The youth unemployment rate it at its highest rate ever reported, nearly double that of adults. Students who miss out on early work and job readiness training are more likely to experience later unemployment, and less likely to have a successful career.

Connecting Activities is a successful program which provides work learning opportunities for low income high school students in MA.

From 2007 to 2012, state funding was cut by roughly $4.4 million, with a reduction in employer wage contributions of almost $29 million. These funding cuts have social costs, including an increased number of drop outs, decreased college enrollment, and inexperience in the workplace.

What can you do? Contact your State Legislator and ask them to restore the 2007 funding levels for School-to-Career Pathways - Line Item 7027-0019.

Campaign for Family Economic Self-Sufficiency Bill Briefing Session

January 10, 2013

State Representative Kay Khan joined with a broad based coalition to launch a campaign for the Career Pathways bill, called “Pathways to Family Economic Self-Sufficiency”. Representatives from labor and business, as well as low income families, spoke of need for job training to help low income families connect with jobs in Massachusetts’ highly skilled economy.

For more information about this Bill, please see the Press Release and the FAQ Sheet.

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Seasonally Adjusted Data

Source: Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development