Workforce Enterprise is your source for the latest news and reports concerning the state of workforce development.

News & Reports From:

• 2008
• January 2008
• February 2008
• 2007
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• 2005
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2008

January 2008

Lack of qualified employees concerns small-business owners
Milwaukee Business Journal (01/11/08)
For years, soaring health care costs have been the No. 1 issue for Milwaukee-area small businesses. But a new survey of the board members of the Milwaukee Council of Small Business Executives revealed that work force training and recruiting have overtaken health care costs as the most pressing issue facing their businesses.

Editorial: Unfair suspensions leave workers idling
JS Online (01/19/08)
Revoking or suspending driver's licenses in Wisconsin has made it all that much harder for low-income residents to obtain and retain employment.

Milwaukee job growth slowing
JS Online (01/23/08)
Unemployment rate rises to 4.7% in metro area

Central city economy improving
Milwaukee Business Journal (01/25/08)
Businesses anticipate growth, GMC study finds

Milwaukee 7 impact questioned
Milwaukee Business Journal (01/25/08)
Top business executives and developers are increasingly frustrated with what they consider a lack of public policy and leadership in economic development for southeast Wisconsin and some are pointing the finger at the Milwaukee 7 Economic Development Council.

Insurer plans to add 400 agents in Wisconsin
JS Online (01/28/08)
Farmers Group predicts push could create 1,000 new jobs

February 2008

Buford takes 'big steps' to success
Milwaukee Business Journal (02/01/08)
In many circles, Earl Buford is known for his personal mission of creating opportunities and helping others.

Engrained in him early on by his hard-working father, Buford said his father still asks "how am I helping, how am I contributing to the community?"

Welding program isn't seamless
JS Online (02/03/08)
One year ago, Tramont Corp. was the paragon of workforce development. After turning down millions of dollars worth of business for lack of workers in mid-2006, the Milwaukee maker of generator equipment formed a collaborative effort that took 14 people receiving public assistance and turned them into certified welders.

CEOs are a big part of GE's output
JS Online (02/09/08)
Trained, talented managers pilot exciting new firms in Wisconsin

2007

April 2007 Newsletter

March 2007 Newsletter

February 2007 Newsletter

United Way job training funds up; Employment grants are boosted 34%
JS Online (7/27/07)
Job training is one piece of the non-profit's "breaking the cycle of poverty" strategy. All the programs are aimed at residents of the central city's 42 "extreme poverty" neighborhoods - those tracts where more than 40% of residents live at or below the federal poverty line.

STATE WON'T APPEAL W-2 COURT RULING
The Capitol Times (7/14/07)
The state will not appeal a Wisconsin Court of Appeals' June 19 ruling on two cases involving the Wisconsin Works (W-2) employment program, Department of Workforce Development Secretary Roberta Gassman said.

High School Not Enough for Wisconsin Workers or Potential Employers
Wisconsin Council on Children and Families (7/11/07)
According to a report released by the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, higher education officials and legislative leaders can take a number of specific steps that will help more Wisconsin workers and employers compete in the increasingly knowledge-based economy. Research in the report shows that there is a “tipping point” where education and training levels achieved bring a significant labor market payoff.

Labor Department Report Illuminates FMLA Challenges
Workforce Management (7/12/07)
While the report says FMLA works well for leaves related to childbirth, adoption and acute illnesses in families, employers have serious difficulties managing intermittent leave and definitions of what constitutes a serious health condition.

Teacher improvement criticized
JS Online (7/6/07)
The National Council on Teacher Quality gave Wisconsin a report card that had one C, three D's and two F's in six aspects of policies related to teaching, and it was generally critical of a revamped system for licensing teachers launched by the state Department of Public Instruction over the last several years.

CEO stays short term
Randall to help for 6 months as city takes over control
-JSOnline (6/29/07)
The board of the Private Industry Council of Milwaukee County voted Thursday to keep its president and CEO, Gerard Randall, for the next six months as an "assistant CEO" during the work force development agency's transition from county to city control.

Job Agency Change in Works For Two Years
CEO Randall resisted retooling from start
-JSOnline (6/27/07)
Gerard Randall's days as president and CEO of the Private Industry Council of Milwaukee County have been numbered since February.That's when Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett asked to take over from the county the responsibility for work-force development, and for the millions of federal employment and training dollars that come with it. He made it clear he wanted to retool, beef up current efforts and make a change at the top. But the change had been under way for about two years.

Mayor Lays Down Ultimatum for Changes at Top of PIC
If Barrett's pick not named CEO, city will utilize new work-force agency
-JSOnline (6/21/07)
Mayor Tom Barrett has told the Private Industry Council of Milwaukee County that unless it replaces Gerard Randall as its president and chief executive officer, he will form his own work-force development agency and board come July 1. That's the date that the city and the mayor assume authority over the $14 million in mostly federal funding for job training that has been managed by the county and the Private Industry Council.

ETA Announces 'WIRED' Initiative's Third Generation of Regions
12 counties in south-central Wisconsin awarded $5 Million
-US Department of Labor(6/19/07)
U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao announced the awarding of up to $65 million to 13 regions that competed successfully to become the 3rd generation of the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development’s (WIRED) Initiative. The South-Central Wisconsin Region joins the Regional Workforce Alliance, the Workforce arm of M7 as a WIRED Region. The RWA is a 2nd generation WIRED region.

A New Focus on Direct Hiring
Manpower placing emphasis on mining 'non-temporary' jobs
-JSOnline (6/15/07)
A pioneer in temporary staffing globally, Glendale-based Manpower is putting a greater premium on permanent placements. Make that "non-temporary" placements because "permanent" is passé.

Ex-inmates Helped into Work World
New Hope program eases post-prison transition
-JSOnline (6/6/07)
If an offender becomes gainfully employed, not only are we saving the $26,000 a year it would cost to re-incarcerate them in prison, but they are becoming law-abiding citizens who aren't committing new crimes, who are also taxpayers.

Area Gets More Jobs, But More Joblessness
Unemployment increases throughout Wisconsin, state says
-JSOnline (5/23/07)
The Milwaukee area added jobs and increased unemployment in the last 12 months, according to a report that the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development released Wednesday.

The four-county Milwaukee area had 6,400 more jobs last month than it did in April 2006, based on preliminary estimates from payroll data. Meanwhile, household surveys suggested that 5.3% of area workers who were actively seeking jobs couldn't find any last month, up from 5% the year before.

All 12 Wisconsin metropolitan areas had a higher unemployment rate last month than in April 2006. The statewide unemployment rate for April was 5.3%, up from 4.9% in April 2006.

Factories Fight to Win Workers
Wage concessions, benefit cuts, layoffs have made jobs hard to fill
-JSOnline (5/10/07)
Manufacturers' struggles to attract workers come as no surprise to Mike Kurki.

"When I kick my dog, he doesn't come back home," says Kurki, who lives in Superior. In 23 years as a welder, Kurki has spent about five on unemployment, losing jobs at six factories in the Duluth, Minn., area. About three years ago, after a two-year hiatus, he returned to factory work - with considerable reluctance.

"It took two hands to pull that welding helmet off the nail in the garage," Kurki said.

Panel to Help City's Work-Force Takeover
Barrett names 20 to help in replacement of PIC
-JSOnline (5/8/07)
Mayor Tom Barrett on Tuesday announced a 20-person team to lead the transition of the work-force development board from Milwaukee County's Private Industry Council to the city.

Donald Sykes, director of the mayor's office of work-force development, will head the team, which will examine and analyze programming, finances and staffing levels of the current operation, Barrett said.

In February, Barrett asked Gov. Jim Doyle to authorize him to take over responsibility for local work-force development activities that have been led by the county.

Wisconsin Manufacturers Confident About Economy
State Manufacturers Report Skilled Workers in Demand
-Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce (6/1/07)
Wisconsin Manufacturing and Commerce conducted the online survey of 400 manufacturing CEOs from among its 4,000 members to celebrate May is Manufacturing Month. The survey found the greatest demand for workers in the area of skilled production, and nearly 58 percent reported they could not find qualified candidates to fill job openings.

Bucyrus Needs Fewer Welders
Employers, government need to help, economist says
-JSOnline (4/26/07)
A month after Milwaukee Area Technical College nearly expanded a training program to help Bucyrus International fill 100 welding jobs, the company's chief executive told the college it needs only about half that many workers.

The college started training heavy-plate welders on campus for Bucyrus last year. College administrators then proposed leasing extra space at the Esperanza Unida agency and purchasing more equipment to expand the program, under the belief that Bucyrus needed 100 workers by the end of this year. That expansion plan was narrowly defeated by the MATC board last month.

A few weeks after the vote, the board learned that Bucyrus does not need as many workers as previously thought. An April 20 letter from Bucyrus Chief Executive Officer Tim Sullivan to MATC president Darnell Cole said the company needs only 55 welders.

Teetering On Line Between Work, Home
Employers, government need to help, economist says
-JSOnline (4/18/07)
The demise of goods-producing middle-class jobs with good pay and good benefits has left more Americans struggling to balance between their obligations at work and home, says economist Bob Drago, who sees a greater need for employers and the government to help workers get their footing.

A Pennsylvania State University scholar on work-life balance and author of a new book on the topic, Drago is scheduled for lectures today at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Thursday at UW-Milwaukee, where he was on the faculty for 16 years, four years as director of the graduate program in human resources and labor relations.

In advance of his visit, Drago spoke with Joel Dresang of the Journal Sentinel staff.

Wealth of Experience
Older workers leverage skills
-JSOnline (4/11/07)
This is how John Anderson dreamed of retirement: keeping a foot in his profession with a more abbreviated and flexible schedule so he has more time for church work and family.

Anderson, who's 60 and lives in Racine, retired in 2004 after 31 years as a financial executive at the S.C. Johnson family of companies. Since then, he has been working as a chief financial officer for smaller companies who hire him for two to four days a week through Milwaukee-based LauberCFOs.

"I've appreciated the flexibility," Anderson says. "It also is a variety, and that's what I was looking for, outside of the corporate world - a variety of companies all the way from service companies to wholesalers to job shop companies."

A License to Drive, A License to Work
Effort will clear obstacles for low-income drivers
-JSOnline (4/10/07)
A $400,000 public-private partnership that kicked off this month aims to get thousands of Milwaukee County residents back into their cars and into work.

The program will help low-income people with revoked or suspended licenses get reduced fines, payment plans or community service to pay off penalties.

Driver's licenses are critical in Milwaukee because most job-seekers live in the city, far from most jobs in the suburbs, according to a 2006 report from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Employment and Training Institute.

Helping to Fill the Construction Gap
Sowell oversees program aimed at training Milwaukee residents
-The Business Journal of Milwaukee (3/23/07)
Linda Sowell sees herself as an advocate -- for minority businesses, for people who need training to find family supporting jobs and for her employer.

It's an attitude she formed growing up an only child in Atlanta. She brings that fire to her job as Gilbane Building Co.'s strategic programs director and as the managing director of the Urban Trades Partnership Initiative, which trains and qualifies Milwaukee residents for jobs in building and construction trades such as carpentry.

Job Council Closes Meeting On Takeover
Governor plans to transfer lead role to city, letter says
-JSOnline (3/13/07)
The Private Industry Council went into a challenged closed session Tuesday to discuss the governor's intention to designate the City of Milwaukee as the work force development board and transfer millions of federal dollars and responsibilities to the city and the mayor on July 1.

Buy a link here In a letter to County Executive Scott Walker, Gov. Jim Doyle said he expects to grant Mayor Tom Barrett's request that the city take over from the council. In addition, Doyle said the rest of Milwaukee County would be included under the new board.

Black Male Joblessness Takes Rare Fall
Milwaukee's slight decline is first in 30 years, study shows
-JSOnline (3/12/07)
Milwaukee has posted a small and rare decrease in its extreme rate of black male joblessness, according to an analysis of recent U.S. Census Bureau data.

"This is the first time since the early 1970s that, at any critical measurement point, this rate has declined even a little bit," said Marc V. Levine, director of the Center for Economic Development at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Career Ladders: How, Why, and Their Limitations-Two New Reports
The Center On Wisconsin Strategy recently released two reports addressing career ladders and the quality of jobs.

From Bad to Good Jobs? An Analysis of the Prospects for Career Ladders in the Service Industries is available online at: www.cows.org/pdf/rp-bad-good.pdf.

Stronger Ladders, Stronger Floors: The Need for Both Supply and Demand Strategies to Improve Workers’ Opportunities is available online at: www.cows.org/pdf/rp-ladder_ld.pdf.

Local Governments Can Strengthen Economic Development
-COWS Notes (Center On Wisconsin Strategy)
Efficient and Strategic TIF Use: A Guide for Wisconsin Municipalities, suggests ways local governments can allocate their tax incremental financing (TIF) dollars efficiently and strategically. Ideas include recommendations for better recognizing a good TIF proposal from a bad one and thoughts on how Wisconsin's cities and villages can take proactive steps to improve the quality of TIF funding requests they receive by clearly setting and communicating the communities' priorities for the funds. TIF, which provides over $240 million in assistance each year, is Wisconsin's largest economic development program.

Too Many Wisconsin Workers Lack Basic Skills
-COWS Notes (Center On Wisconsin Strategy)
Back to Basics, Strengthening Adult Basic Education (ABE) in Wisconsin, highlights the importance of adult basic education and reveals that Wisconsin is lagging its neighbors in ABE spending. Wisconsin spends $360 per enrolled student compared to Michigan which spends $1,846 per student, Minnesota $778, Iowa $708, and at the bottom of the list, Illinois, spending a paltry $130 per enrolled student.

The report concludes with ideas for improving ABE programs to better respond to demographic and economic pressures as well as worker and business needs. Ideas include increasing annual spending to meet the needs of more students, expanding workplace based ABE and integrating ABE and occupational training.

The Graying of Milwaukee
-Small Business Times (3/23/07)
Ready or not, Milwaukee employers will soon be confronted by a severe labor shortage caused by a cascade of aging and retiring baby boomers, who will be followed by a much smaller generation.

MATC Hires Former OIC Executive
Clay to help forge job-training alliances
-JSOnline (2/26/07)
Milwaukee Area Technical College has hired former Opportunities Industrialization Center of Greater Milwaukee executive Bill Clay as its new economic development manager.

Clay, who started in the position Monday at MATC, will work to create more job-training partnerships like those developed recently for Tramont Corp. and Bucyrus International Inc. to fill the gap between skill shortages and employer needs.

Working to Increase Access to College
Working to increase access to college
-The Business Journal of Milwaukee (2/23/07)
Tonya Crampton is trying to increase the number of minorities who receive college degrees by recruiting them into Cardinal Stritch University's Lifetime Learners program.

Founded in 2000, the Lifetime Learners program allows working adults to earn associate's degrees in business from the Glendale university.

The program has two Milwaukee locations -- the Next Door Foundation, 2545 N. 29th St. and the Greentree/Teutonia Community Learning Center, 3744 W. Greentree Road -- both of which are in communities heavily populated by minorities. Both sites provide free child care for students while they attend class. 

A Review of the Milwaukee Workforce Development System And Recommendations for Improvements
City of Milwaukee Workforce Development Recommendations
-City of Milwaukee (2/07)
After extensive review and analysis, the following recommendations are made to Mayor Tom Barrett to implement an approach that is an employer-driven, responsive, coordinated and well-funded strategy for Milwaukee Workforce Development.

The Importance of Workforce Development
-Dr. Sammis White (2/20/07)
Workforce is increasingly being recognized by employers as the most critical input in successful enterprise. And the workforce that is better educated is more likely to be successful. Education and skills are commonly being seen as primary determinants of worker productivity and subsequent income. For these reasons, workforce development is growing in importance for economic and personal growth.

Nationally and globally, the world of work is changing dramatically. In the US in 1948 men who had not completed high school accounted for 60% of the hours worked by men. Among women, those who had not finished high school worked 50% of the total hours contributed by women. By 1997 men and women with less than a high-school degree accounted for 12% and 9%, respectively, of total hours worked. By 2007 those percentages are even smaller. Education increasingly matters both to employability and to income generation.

The Customized Workforce
-Dr. Darnell Cole & Sandi McClary, WorkforceEnterprise.com (2/20/07)
We have all heard the chilling statistics and the disturbing stories:
• 40% of Milwaukee’s manufacturing workforce will be retiring in the next 3-5 years
• Tramont Corp had to refuse $10 million in business because it didn’t have the employee capacity
• Bucyrus needs more than 200 welders and machinists, yesterday.

The recent “Wisconsin’s Job Outlook 2005-2007” published by the Department of Workforce Development confirmed this trend in its report, stating that the number of replacement jobs is eclipsing the number of new jobs in every industry category.

So who is responsible for finding and training this replacement workforce? The public school system? The technical colleges? The community? Employers?

The answer is: yes.

Building Bridges with Business and Industry
-By Dr. Barbara Prindiville, WorkforceEnterprise.com (2/20/07)
Business retention and expansion is a key driver to a region's economic vitality. Closely tied to business retention and expansion is the ability to attract and retain a talented workforce. Waukesha County Technical College (WCTC) prides itself in building bridges with business and industry to meet current and future workforce needs.

UW Parkside Embraces Workforce Development
-By Beth Norris, WorkforceEnterprise.com (2/20/07)
Universities can and must play a vital role in workforce development. UW Parkside is embracing this opportunity. As a result, our students are learning, our faculty are becoming engaged, and our community is tapping into the university's reservoir of expertise and passion.

Gateway as an Economic Driver for its Communities
-By Bryan Albrecht, WorkforceEnterprise.com (2/20/07)
At a recent meeting, several of our area legislators dubbed Gateway Technical College and its efforts to train our communities’ workforce, an “economic engine”. It confirmed that we are on the right track in how we address the needs of our key communities: students, employers, and the taxpayers.

That’s what career and technical education is today. An economic driver for its communities—preparing employers, employees, and tomorrow’s career professionals for success and growth. Gateway, serving Kenosha, Racine and Walworth counties, has taken a leadership role in improving the area’s economy by preparing the workforce for over 65 different career areas.

Job Corps Plans Makeover for a Changed Economy
-NYTimes.com (2/20/07)
Over the last four decades, even as fauked experiments and partisan disputes took luster off the war on poverty, the Job Corps, the government's main effort to give poorly educated youths a second change at a diploma and a trade, was widely seen as one of the few success stories.

Wrong Tack on Work Force Efforts
By GERARD A. RANDALL JR.
-JSOnline (2/16/07)
In Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett's "state of the city" address this week, he proposed the formation of an Office of Workforce Development. Further, he declared his intention to take over leadership of the local and regional work force development system. My organization disagrees with the proposal and suggests there is a better way.

Barrett to Address Job Training in City
-JSOnline (2/12/07)
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, who in the 2004 campaign said he'd focus on "jobs, jobs, jobs," is asking the state to give the city more authority to implement and oversee job-training efforts.

Barrett will highlight that request in today's "state of the city" speech, to be held at a Riverwest factory that created its own partnership to train welders desperately needed to fill job openings.

Barrett's job plan gets mixed response
-JSOnline (2/12/07)
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett drew mixed reactions today to his call for the city to take over leadership of regional job-training efforts.

In his State of the City address, Barrett announced plans to create a new Mayor's Office of Workforce Development, led by Donald Sykes, a former Social Development Commission executive director who is currently a city jobs consultant, and jump-started by a $500,000 grant from the Helen Bader Foundation.

County will take on role of matchmaker
Strategic plan will try to link workers with jobs
-JSOnline (2/3/07)
Racine County has high unemployment - particularly in the city of Racine - and yet has skilled manufacturing jobs that are unfilled.

It has educational training programs, but can people get trained quickly enough to fill the available jobs?

It has programs to help people who don't have high school diplomas and a high rate of young people without high school diplomas.

There is a will to solve these work force issues.

And now, county officials hope, a comprehensive strategic plan will give Racine County the way to solve those problems.

The Level and Distribution of Economic Well-Being
-Federal Reserve Board (2/6/07)
In remarks to the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce in Nebraska, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said disparities in education and training were "likely the single greatest source of the long-term increase in inequality." Thus, "policies that boost our national investment in education and training can help reduce inequality while expanding economic opportunity, he said.

'Express Ramp' Welder Training Leads to Bucyrus International
-MATC (2/07)
Milwaukee Area Technical College is launching a new fast-track welding program designed to lead directly to jobs at Bucyrus International, Inc. Project "Express Ramp" aims to recruit and train up to 100 heavy-plate welders in the next six months.

Region Wins Jobs Grant
$5 million will go to help skills match needs
-JSOnline (1/17/07)
The federal government Wednesday awarded the seven-county Milwaukee region a three-year, $5 million grant to help narrow the skills gap that leaves thousands of metro-area workers unqualified for job opportunities.

Regional planners decry the disconnect between unfilled jobs and pockets of high unemployment as one of the most crippling economic impediments to southeastern Wisconsin. Labor economists fret that the problem is bound to worsen as experienced workers from the baby-boom generation retire without a new wave of qualified replacements.

U.S. Department of Labor Commits Up to $65 Million for 2nd Generation of WIRED Activities
-U.S. Department of Labor (1/17/07)
WASHINGTON - U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao today announced the Department of Labor's intent to provide up to $65 million to 13 regions across the country that comprise the second generation of the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative.

"This regional economic development strategy transcends political boundaries to better leverage a region's assets to help workers succeed in the 21st century worldwide economy," said Secretary Chao. "Investing in area workforces through this collaborative approach will boost entire regions' economic vitality."

Each 2nd Generation WIRED region will receive an initial award of $500,000, with the ability to access a $4.5 million balance contingent upon completion of a regional implementation blueprint.

Grant Will Allow MATC to Train 1,600
Workers would be recruited for manufacturing jobs
-JSOnline (1/16/07)
A three-year, $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Labor will allow the Milwaukee Area Technical College to recruit and train 1,600 workers in five areas of advanced manufacturing where local businesses are projected to have critical shortages.

The money also will help MATC build a more strategic career-planning system, said Duane Schultz, associate dean in the division of technology and applied sciences for MATC. The goal: to anticipate earlier what jobs will be available locally and train students in those areas.

'Panther Tracks' Creates a Seamless Path From MATC to UWM
-MATC (1/4/07)
Thanks to Panther Tracks, a new guaranteed admission and transfer agreement, liberal arts and sciences students now have a clear, straight path from Milwaukee Area Technical College to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. If they stick to the path and keep their grades up, they can begin at MATC and be guaranteed admission at UWM, close to halfway done with their bachelor's degree.

(back to top)

2006

November 2006 Newsletter

September 2006 Newsletter

August 2006 Newsletter

July 2006 Newsletter

MATC Hires Economic Development Manager
Post will link educators, area employers and work-force agencies
-JSOnline (12/20/06)
To help replicate recent efforts at quickly training welders for Milwaukee's Tramont Corp. and Bucyrus International Inc. in South Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Area Technical College is hiring an economic development manager.

MATC said Wednesday it received a two-year, $120,000 grant from the Helen Bader Foundation for the new position. The manager will be expected to establish partnerships between MATC's Office of Corporate Learning and local work-force development agencies, area employers and providers of adult basic education.

MATC is seeking additional funding for the work, which will be overseen by a committee representing MATC, the City of Milwaukee, the Greater Milwaukee Committee, the Metropolitan Milwaukee Association of Commerce and the Helen Bader Foundation.

Collaboration Benefits Employer, W-2 Clients
-MATC (12/06)
To help replicate recent efforts at quickly training welders for Milwaukee's Tramont Corp. and Bucyrus International Inc. in South Milwaukee, the Milwaukee Area Technical College is hiring an economic development manager.

Welders Training Takes Off
Applicants drawn to quick classes with guaranteed jobs
-JSOnline (12/19/06)
When word got out that Bucyrus International Inc. needed 100 specially trained workers - at pay starting around $22 an hour - Milwaukee responded.

Milwaukee Area Technical College and the Private Industry Council of Milwaukee County forged a 12-week training program for heavy-plate welding, which Bucyrus needs for the colossal mining equipment it makes. And just to show that Milwaukeeans don't shirk from hot and heavy factory work, even after a 34,000 drop in manufacturing employment since 1998, MATC received more than six times the number of applicants needed.

Likewise, news of a six-week welding class with guaranteed jobs at $13.05 an hour at Tramont Corp. got people's attention, generating requests to be included in the class, which graduated 14 men and women Tuesday.

A Model of Collaboration
Training alliance produces its first class of welding grads
-JSOnline (12/19/06)
Rapid, multilateral cooperation has put 14 hungry workers into decent jobs as welders at Milwaukee's Tramont Corp. And it also has suggested what the region's fragmented work force development efforts can do through employer-driven collaboration.

Six weeks ago, Jessica Cooper, 32, was a food stamp recipient with a work history of hopping between jobs cleaning and caregiving. Now she's in her second week welding steel fuel tanks, which Tramont makes for generator equipment manufacturers.

On Cooper's third day at work, she welded a 700-gallon tank with no leaks - compared with 15 to 25 leaks that are typical for most new welders, says Tramont's president, Sean McGowan. Six months ago, McGowan turned away $10 million in orders because he didn't have the welders to complete them. And now: "I believe we can ramp up the business," McGowan says.

Fresh Starts, Job Guarantees Await Welders-in-Training
Short on labor, manufacturer leads effort to offer free classes
-JSOnline
They're making welders again at Milwaukee's old North Division High School.

Through a collaboration of the city's public schools, the technical college, welfare agencies, the mayor's office and a private manufacturer desperate for skilled trade workers, 16 adults have begun free training in a formerly mothballed metal shop.

Those who graduate from the six-week course are guaranteed jobs starting at $12.50 an hour and full benefits at Tramont Corp., a maker of generator equipment in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood.

Labor Seen as Key to Future
Trained workers central to region's industry, report says
Controlling the high cost of health care is important, but ensuring an ample supply of trained workers is critical to the future well-being of the Milwaukee area's large manufacturing sector, according to a report to be released this morning.

Prepared for the Milwaukee 7, a seven-county organization created to help make the metropolitan region more competitive economically, the report also found that manufacturing in the state feeds on itself, with factories in the seven-county area buying 45% of their raw materials within Wisconsin.

"We still have a critical mass of manufacturers in the state that rely on one another and are successful in part because they have one another," said Sammis White, director of the Center for Workforce Development at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. White is the author of the report.

(Download the full M7 Manufacturing Survey here.)

The View from the Summit: Aging Workers in the 21st Century
-Workers' Comp Insider (10/30/06)
The Insider recently participated in the Aging Workforce Summit, a meeting of the minds focused on retirement in America. The conference took place on the 80th floor of the Aon Center in Chicago. The views of Chicago and Lake Michigan were supposed to be spectacular, but for the duration of the conference the building was socked in a fog, so all you could see from the windows was an indeterminate white haze - rather appropriate, given the foggy futures confronting a huge proportion of workers in America.

One participant quoted the late Ernest Hemingway: "Retirement is the ugliest word in the language." Setting aside Hemingway's horrendous approach to his own pending retirement (he blew his brains out with a rifle), the quote raises a valid point. The boomer generation, long a staple of the American workforce, is starting to make its slow, inexorable exit from work, but in typical boomer fashion, they are not "going gentle into that good night." In fact, many boomers are planning to work well beyond the conventional retirement ages of 62 and 65. They are doing this for two fundamental reasons:

- Many want to work because they view retirement as boring
- Many must work, because they lack the financial means to retire.

Factories Starving for Help
Worker Shortage Threatens Area Manufacturers' Growth
-The Business Journal of Milwaukee (9/21/06)
Waukesha Engine is scrambling to fill open jobs at its factory, but over the next five years, more than 100 of the 475 hourly employees will be eligible to retire, posing an even greater challenge.

Business is growing for the manufacturer of industrial and commercial engines, and it will need to hire about 50 employees over the next year, said Mark Fryer, vice president of human resources.

Beginning Monday, July 24th, ALL stories from The Business Journal print edition will be available online to print-edition subscribers ONLY. If you are already a print subscriber or you wish to subscribe, click here to learn more.

Regional Work Force Effort Wins Grant
-The Business Journal of Milwaukee (9/19/06)
The Regional Workforce Alliance, a collaboration of work force development boards and other agencies in southeast Wisconsin, will receive a $110,000 grant to encourage investment to drive the economic development in the region.

The Growing Regional Opportunities in Wisconsin grant, or GROW, is being made through funds available through the state Council on Workforce Investment and administered by Department of Workforce Development, agency secretary Roberta Gassman said Tuesday.

Incomes Grow, But Pace is Slow
State metro areas trail U.S. rise
-The Milwaukee Journal Sentinal (9/6/06)
Personal incomes grew in Wisconsin's metropolitan areas last year, but not as fast as the national average, as the state's historic industries faced greater global competition.

While average per capita income growth of 3.8% in the Milwaukee area appears to contradict last week's Census Bureau report showing a statewide decline in median household income, the two measures examined different statistics. Yet both reflect a slow-growth economy that hasn't yet met the challenges necessary to compete in a rapidly changing world, economic experts said.

Special Report: Training and Development
-Workforce Management (9/1/06)
(.pdf format. Download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader here.)
Despite a focus on organizational efficiency and cost control, overall spending on training and development continues to rise. It's a reflection of the fact that companies are ratcheting up the amount of training they require of their workers in the ceaseless drive for a competitive edge.

Wisconsin's Technical Colleges Have Highest Bond Rating
-The Wheeler Report (8/22/06)
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MADISON - Wisconsin's Technical Colleges have the highest bond rating found in any state technical or community college system in the nation, according to Moody's Investors Service. Moody's rates 160 technical and community college districts in the U.S. and found Wisconsin's 16 technical colleges, as an aggregate, ".Have a stronger credit profile than community college districts in other states," with a median rating of Aa2.

Worker 'Boot Camp' Kicks Up
-WorkforceEnterprise.org (8/01/06)
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Computer Numerical Control operation is a job skill in high demand among a large number of industrial settings. An innovative and collaborative "Boot Camp" is now available to address an increasingly difficult challenge for Racine area employers to find the skilled workers they need.

This situation peaked in the fall of 2004, when some 250 job openings were listed in the local newspaper. Mark Mundl, of the Racine County Workforce Development Center, took it as a professional challenge. "You know something's seriously wrong when unemployment and job availability both are high and rising," he says.

Competency Models Develop Top Performance
-ASTD.org (7/06) (full article available to ASTD subscribers)

There is no one magical solution that enables companies to succeed in today's competitive global marketplace. However, businesses are increasingly adopting competency models, which prove their value as a human resources management tool.

Sharp Electronics Corporation was among the first wave of companies adopting competency models and is now set to embark upon a second phase.

Sharp developed a core competency model nearly seven years ago. The second phase of the initiative will include five competency models that are specific to several strategically important job functions in sales and marketing, and a revised core competency model.

More Students Sign Up for Accounting
Profession's Campaigns to Raise Awareness Appear to be Working
-The Business Journal of Milwaukee (7/21/06)

Local and national efforts to raise the profile of accounting as a career are paying off, with most Wisconsin colleges and universities reporting higher enrollments in accounting classes over the past three years.

A Wisconsin Institute of Certified Public Accountants survey found that over the past three years, schools have heard from more students willing to consider accounting as a major and a career.

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Preparation is Vital
WorkplaceLearning and Performance Professionals Must Use Statistics to Plan for the Future
-ASTD.org (7/06) (full article available to ASTD subscribers)

It's a real honor to be chair of ASTD. Starting with the 12 fabulous members of the ASTD board, I'm always impressed with the quality of character and depth of knowledge of the people I meet through ASTD.

Briggs & Stratton: Engine Manufacturer Won't Replace Retirees' Jobs
-The Business Journal of Milwaukee (7/17/06)

The loss of highly skilled and experienced workers will hurt the company, (Ross) Winklbauer (of the United Steelworkers Union) said.

"This is experience that can never be replaced," he said. "Any time you bring in new people, there's a learning curve."

The company has hired back some retirees to train new workers and fill in on other jobs, Winklbauer said.

Beginning Monday, July 24th, ALL stories from The Business Journal print edition will be available online to print-edition subscribers ONLY. If you are already a print subscriber or you wish to subscribe, click here to learn more.

Public Sector Training
-ASTD.org (7/06) (full article available to ASTD subscribers)
Trainers, consultants, and others involved in training and development say that 9/11 changed the culture in government agencies dramatically. Training-long considered to be just another business-as-usual activity in many agencies-suddenly became critical.
Regardless of population, cities of all sizes share similar responsibilities, notably police and fire protection, emergency services, and utilities. But while cities have common functions, their commitment to training employees varies widely. Similar to the private sector, where commitment from top executives is necessary to drive programs forward, city managers and other top government executives set the tone.

Happiness Means a Loyal Employee
MU Tailors Wellness Classes to Fit Businesses Needs
-The Business Journal of Milwaukee (7/7/06)
In response to employers' emphasis on wellness in the workplace, Marquette University's College of Professional Studies is offering custom-designed wellness classes to meet businesses' specific work-force needs.
Employers are discovering that it's hard to get high productivity out of employees worn down by the stress of life outside work, said Dr. Julie Helmrich, a business psychologist and an adjunct faculty member at Marquette's College of Professional Studies.
Beginning Monday, July 24th, ALL stories from The Business Journal print edition will be available online to print-edition subscribers ONLY. If you are already a print subscriber or you wish to subscribe, click here to learn more.

Empolyers Seek MBA Graduates
MBAs Making Comeback After An Unpopular Time
-The Washington Business Journal (7/7/06)
It's OK to have an MBA again.
After a lull in demand for people with master's degrees in business administration, companies are once again looking for folks who have MBAs.
The degree has always been valued, but companies weren't going after MBAs as much when the economy was on the ropes. However, today companies want the well-rounded training that comes with an MBA even for nonmanagement positions.
Beginning Monday, July 24th, ALL stories from The Business Journal print edition will be available online to print-edition subscribers ONLY. If you are already a print subscriber or you wish to subscribe, click here to learn more.

New York Times Features Racine's Steady Growth
-MetroMilwaukee.org and The New York Times(7/3/06)
Racine's steady growth has caught the attention of the New York Times as the city was featured in the business section of the July 2, 2006 paper. The extensive story was reprinted in papers across the United States as well as internationally.

U.S. Employers Tighten Reigns on Tuition Reimbursement
-ASTD.org (7/06) (full article available to ASTD subscribers)
A recent survey indicated that a large percentage of employers do not reimburse staff even if the course is tied directly to basic job functions.

Barrett to Use Grant to Hire Jobs Adviser
-Milwaukee Journal Sentinal (6/27/06)
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett plans to take leadership on efforts to boost the regional Milwaukee work force through a state grant to be announced this afternoon.
The state Department of Workforce Development plans to announce a grant of $75,000 for Barrett's office to hire a policy adviser to design a model for work force development in the Milwaukee area.

Worker Skills Don't Match Jobs
UWM study calls for demand-driven training
-Milwaukee Journal Sentinal (6/11/06)
Welding, sweaty and well-paying, is back in vogue. Factory foremen around Milwaukee need 250 of them. But the institution best positioned to turn them out, Milwaukee Area Technical College, graduated only 14 welders in its Class of 2005, up from 10 the previous year.
Wisconsin's biggest technical college also graduated a grand total of 18 machinists in a state with over 650 respective vacancies, at least half of them in southeastern Wisconsin. Of the 541 openings last year for tool-and-die workers in the Milwaukee area, MATC trained 34 students, according to the school.

Teen Birth Rate Hurts Economy
-The Business Journal of Milwaukee (6/9/06)
The city of Milwaukee has one of the nation's highest teen birth rates and it's hurting metropolitan Milwaukee's economy.
Almost 17 percent of births in Milwaukee are to teen mothers. That fact affects businesses' ability to find qualified skilled workers, to clamp down on rising health care costs and to attract new businesses to metropolitan Milwaukee.

Skilled Workers Scarce
-Milwaukee Journal Sentinal (6/7/06)
Conference Tackles Dearth of Skilled Workers, Need for CEOs to Plan Ahead
Badger Meter Inc. is a committed Wisconsin business, but it's expanding elsewhere. Why build new facilities in Mexico rather than near its Brown Deer headquarters?
"It is easier to hire people," said Richard Meeusen, chairman, president and chief executive officer. "It has been getting harder to hire skilled people" in Wisconsin.

Jobs Help Veterans Build Lives After Service
-Milwaukee Journal Sentinal (6/7/06)
Program Links Returning Troops, Construction Employers
At first, Damar Liederbach saw himself going nowhere. Then he went to Iraq. Now he's back in Milwaukee feeling good about where he's going, thanks to Helmets to Hardhats.

Governor Doyle Announces $100,000 for RAMAC to Advance Worker Skills
-Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development News Release (6/6/06)
RACINE - Governor Jim Doyle today awarded the Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce (RAMAC) $100,000 from the Governor's Council on Workforce Investment for a project to ensure southeastern Wisconsin companies have the skilled, competitive workforce they need.

Cramped Job Training Center Considers Move to Wisconsin Ave. Building
-Milwaukee Journal Sentinal (5/23/06)
The old Advance Cleaning and Supplies building at 3871 W. Wisconsin Ave. could be a possible site for the Center for Excellence, a joint initiative between the Wisconsin Regional Training Partnership and Big Step to connect and train minorities and women for apprenticeship opportunities in southeastern Wisconsin.

Manufacturers Should Anticipate Change
-Milwauke