Workforce Development: It's All About Supply and Demand

Information by State  Print version

Date: Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Time: 3:45 — 5:15 p.m.

Participants learn how to research the economic and workforce strengths and/or needs of a surrounding community to develop a job placement program that addresses the community’s needs. Just as asset mapping can guide partnership development, mapping the surrounding economic/workforce environment can help improve job training and placement activities in a Neighborhood Networks center to help residents obtain steady employment and a rewarding career.

Materials:
Workforce Development presentation 1
Workforce Development presentation 2

Moderator:
Ronald Ashford
Director, Public Housing Supportive Service Programs
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

Presenters:

Julian Alssid
Executive Director
Workforce Strategy Center

Julian L. Alssid, executive director of Workforce Strategy Center, is a nationally recognized expert in workforce development strategy and policy. He has more than 15 years of experience bringing together employers, workforce agencies, community colleges, and clients to help move low-income people into high-wage jobs in key industries, such as biotechnology, new manufacturing, and information technology. Since founding Workforce Strategy Center in 1998, Alssid has advised 20 states on workforce policy and has been a national leader in promoting effective, practical solutions for implementing Career Pathways initiatives and sectoral employment strategies. Alssid has authored two major studies on workforce strategy: Building a Career Pathways System: Promising Practices in Community College-Centered Workforce Development and Building Bridges to College and Careers: Contextualized Basic Skills Programs at Community Colleges. His views on engaging employers and creating effective workforce development systems have received extensive attention in national and local media. He speaks regularly on the need for policy and educational reform in the field. Prior to directing Workforce Strategy Center, Alssid held senior positions in workforce development at the New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce, LaGuardia Community College, and the Office of the Mayor of New York City.

Isaac Grauke
Director of Customer Solutions and Consulting
CCbenefits, Inc. and Economic Specialists, Inc.

Isaac Grauke is director of customer solutions and consulting at CCbenefits, Inc. and Economic Modeling Specialists, Inc (EMSI). As an expert on EMSI labor market data and analysis tools, Grauke has led training seminars for education, workforce, and economic development professionals nationwide. He has served as EMSI team leader for clients such as: the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, North Carolina Community College System, and Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry on assignments ranging from industry cluster analysis to state-of-the-workforce reports.