SEELEY LAKE – As the current chair of the Montana’s State Workforce Innovation Board (SWIB), Seeley Lake resident Loren Rose is taking a new approach to help the group set goals, new benchmarks and make these things measurable. In addition to the re-focus, the SWIB has gained national attention and will be a focal point for the National Governors Association meeting in July.
The Montana Department of Labor & Industry receives approximately $5.8 million from the federal government to implement Workforce Innovation and Opportunities (WIOA) programs for adults, youth and dislocated workers. SWIB is tasked with overseeing how these funds are distributed and used at the state level and advising the Governor on statewide workforce development strategies that maximize the state’s education, training, and employment resources in support of economic development.
The WIOA provides workforce investment activities, through statewide and local workforce development systems. This increases the employment, retention and earnings of participants and helps participants earn postsecondary credentials. The intent is to improve the quality of the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, increase economic self-sufficiency, meet the skill requirements of employers and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the nation.
While Montana doesn’t receive enough federal workforce development funding to make many changes to how this money is allocated, the SWIB and its members make sure these program dollars serve as many Montanans as possible.
“With our state’s unemployment rate at 4.1 percent, this is money well spent training individuals to transition into meaningful employment and strengthen our workforce,” said Shannon Lewis, State Workforce Innovation Board Program Manager.
The SWIB is currently made up of 28 seats that serve four-year terms. Half the board must be from private business, including the chair, and include various other agencies including county government and higher education. Rose works at Pyramid Mountain Lumber. Currently there are six vacant positions including five business members and one public member.
Rose said the board is incredibly diverse. However, everyone wants a more stable workforce that is better trained and capable of meeting future workforce challenges. The board members are also extremely well connected in their individual communities, which brings a broader synergy to the board.
Governor Steve Bullock asked Rose to serve on the board as part of the private sector. His first meeting was June 2016.
“I was totally naïve. I didn’t know anything about it,” said Rose. “It is one of those things when a governor or senator asks you to do something, you do it.”
The SWIB has been actively working with industry sectors across the Montana to grow and strengthen the workforce. They are engaging industry partners and stakeholder groups on a deeper level and working to promote workforce programs and promising practices happening throughout Montana.
The SWIB also serves as the Jobs for Montana Graduates, affiliate of the Jobs for America’s Graduates program, oversight committee. JMG is funded through state and private foundation funds. Seeley Lake Elementary has been participating in the JMG for the past two years and is one of eight middle schools in the country that integrates the program.
“The SWIB, and many of Montana’s business leaders, look at programs like JMG as a good investment in Montana’s workforce as it engages young people in the career exploration process and ensures that the young people participating in the program are on a post-secondary education path into training, whether that’s through higher education or a credentialed training program, that will end in a career,” wrote Lewis.
Although not necessarily funded, Rose added the SWIB board oversees several programs involving apprenticeship, dislocated workers, adult education and training and work-based learning.
When Rose became the chair this January, he read through the mission and purpose of the SWIB and sent it out to all the board members. He asked them to come to the meeting prepared to share with everyone what resonated with them.
Rose said many of the board members asked many of the same questions he was asking, “How are we suppose to be measuring what the state is doing with all these programs? How do we know if it is successful and how do we know if the taxpayer is getting what they paid for?”
Rose was encouraged that he wasn’t alone and because many felt the meeting was so productive, looks forward to continuing to do good work.
Lewis and Rose attended the National Board Chair meeting in Washington, D.C. in February. Rose said it was amazing talking to other chairs around the country and hearing them say how well they feel Montana is doing and how progressive it is despite how diverse and little funding Montana receives.
“Montana does a fantastic job leveraging the resources we receive,” said Rose. “It was amazing how many states were challenged with providing workforce opportunities in a rural setting.”
There was such a high degree of interest in the work being done in Montana that the others states wanted to come and see firsthand the work being done. Lewis and Rose rallied Governor Bullock and they agreed to host the National Governors Association’s summer meeting July 23 – 27 in Missoula. There will be several workforce related conferences simultaneously and the SWIB will convene at the same time.
“That is a testament to the work we do and the interest that it generates with other states trying to do similar work,” said Rose.
“Because of what we have been able to achieve as a board and an agency under Governor Bullock’s leadership, it is being looked at by other rural states and states with rural areas as best practices,” said Lewis. “We have a lot to be proud of here in Montana.”
Rose looks forward to focusing the synergy on establishing measurement criteria and evaluating program performance based on that criteria at their June meeting.
“I do not expect there to be changes at the program level but a better board understanding of what is going on at the program level and how we can elevate program performance,” said Rose. “What I expect is greater board ownership of our various activities.”
“The SWIB plays a critical role in Montana’s economic present and future,” said Lewis. “In addition, I look forward to further engaging our members and stakeholders on a deeper level to champion workforce development for Montanans, much like we’ve done here in Seeley Lake. There are many opportunities to leverage the leadership of the board’s diverse industry members.”
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