The role of the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board includes the following:
Develop and submit to the Governor a local strategic workforce investment plan;
Oversee the administration of the one-stop delivery system within the area CareerCenters;
Conduct oversight with respect to local programs of youth activities, local employment and training activities for adults, and the one-stop delivery system;
Administer local performance measures;
Coordinate the workforce investment activities in the local area with economic development strategies and other employer linkages;
Promote the participation of private sector employers in the workforce investment system.
Goals:
The Tri-County Workforce Investment Board will promote economic success in the region through the development of a world-class workforce development system where:
Maine people will have a high quality of life with rewarding work and prospering businesses, and
Employers will have skilled workers and workers will have good jobs.
The Economic and Workforce Development Goals for the Tri-County Region will be:
To create meaningful lifelong learning opportunities;
To increase employer participation in the workforce development system;
To increase public involvement in the workforce development system;
To integrate economic development with workforce development; and,
To create a seamless delivery system for workforce development, which promotes the CareerCenter delivery system as the key vehicle to carry out the region�s mission and goals.
Staff:
The Tri-County Workforce Investment Board is staffed by an Executive Director and a Program Assistant, who are based at Eastern Maine Development Corporation in Bangor. As Executive Director, Joanna Russell oversees the operations and WIA programs of the Department of Labor's CareerCenters in Hancock, Penobscot and Piscataquis Counties. A key aspect of this position is to coordinate workforce development efforts with economic development efforts in the region to enhance job development opportunities and business attraction and retention efforts.
Projects:
The projects that the Tri-County Workforce Investment Board is currently working on are designed to help meet the economic and workforce development goals set by the Board. Among those projects:
Development and design of a Local Area Plan for the delivery of comprehensive employment and training services in the Tri-County Area;
Development of a website for the Tri-County Area, which will allow people to access information about activities in the local area, dates and minutes of meetings, and solicit information to board staff;
Educating the general public, community agencies, and businesses about the work of the Board through marketing of the website, CareerCenters, business outreach visits, and speaking engagements;
Assist with rapid response services to address the needs of the workers and employers affected by layoffs;
Expand and enhance the Youth Employment Network through the activities of the Youth Council, including Youth-to-Youth Forums and Sponsor Day activities;
All core services, delivery modes and methods, staffing designs, and recruitment and marketing efforts will be customized for each CareerCenter location, recognizing the unique needs of each community within the Tri-County area;
Utilize data on core performance and customer satisfaction indicators as the basis for continuous improvement. Using this data, we will work at the policy level and the program management level to improve performance over time.