Mt. Vernon Register-News

Local

December 23, 2009

County supports Workforce Act

By RORYE O’CONNOR

rorye.oconnor@register-news.com

MT. VERNON— The Jefferson County Board passed a resolution Monday night to support the re-authorization of the Workforce Investment Act.

“At a time like this, we need all the help for unemployment we can get,” said Jefferson County Board Chairman Ted Buck.

The board approved a resolution stating the WIA is a proven and effective tool for the development of a competent workforce.

“For this system to remain effective, it must be re-authorized with local government and the local business community remaining as the intermediary for job seekers to become skilled workers for business in key sectors of the economy, and local control must remain a requirement for these programs as Local Workforce Boards, appointed by local government, reflect the economic composition and the growth industries of the area and provide policies, program designs and initiatives; and during these difficult economic times these needs of our community are at an historic high,” information from the board states.

Buck said the WIA is a state program that trains citizens to create jobs.

The WIA re-authorization will be up for approval in 2010. The WIA, which was originally created in 1998 to replace the Job Training Partnership Act, went into effect in 200. The Act provides federal funding for workforce development nationwide. Under terms of the WIA, every local workforce area has a workforce investment board that oversees funds.

According to text from the Act, its purpose is, “to consolidate, coordinate, and improve employment, training, literacy, and vocational rehabilitation programs in the United States,”

Furthermore, the act is to “provide workforce investment activities, through statewide and local workforce investment systems, that increase the employment, retention, and earnings of participants, and increase occupational skill attainment by participants, and, as a result, improve the quality of the workforce, reduce welfare dependency, and enhance the productivity and competitiveness of the Nation,” information states.

Workforce investment boards are business-led with a requirement that 51 percent of its members and the chairmanship be representatives of the employer community, according to the Southern Illinois Workforce Investment Board.

Locally, the Southern Illinois Workforce Investment Board represents those in workforce investment area 25 of Illinois, and is comprised of members from the five major counties of Jefferson, Williamson, Jackson, Perry and Franklin, and repersent business, labor, educaiton and other entities which hae an interest in improving workforce development in the region.

The SIWIB oversees workforce development efforts in the five counties with the goal that citizens and employers in the counties will have access to, and be a part of, the foremost workforce development system in the Midwest, according to information from the SIWIB.

The workforce board serves as a source for information about and access to workforce development programs and services.

Buck, as chairman of the Jefferson County Board, is a member of the Chief Local Elected Officials of SIWIB.

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