What if there was a way to train and prepare for employment all in one place? Not just a community center where job seekers can work on a resume or search for job openings, but a centralized hub that reduces barriers preventing many from accessing high-paying, in-demand careers. NWI Works has unveiled an innovative concept that unifies workforce training, education, and community services while meeting the needs of regional employers actively seeking employees.
The current model for unemployed or underemployed individuals typically involves attending school, complete training, and then finding a job. Numerous resources that can guide them to their goal such as college, technical school, resume workshops, college career centers, books, online tools, and the list goes on. While these services will meet the needs of some individuals, they can be difficult to navigate for those facing additional barriers to success.
A Prototype of Workforce Development Systems
Lisa Daugherty has led the Center of Workforce Innovations (CWI) as president and CEO for the past five years. She brought her vision for strengthening workforce development in Northwest Indiana, but knew she could not do it alone.
“I realized when I came into this role, I wanted to change the system to make it client friendly, but realized that being a regional entity, CWI can’t do it alone. It has to be a collaborative arrangement, but with local entities in communities. It has to happen within communities.”
CWI is a 501 (c) (3) organization that serves as a workforce intermediary across the seven-county area of Lake, Porter, LaPorte, Jasper, Newton, Starke, and Pulaski. They focus on workforce development, WorkOne center management, adult education, and career training.
CWI is also a part of the board of NWI Works, a collaborative workforce development initiative in Northwest Indiana designed to connect job seekers with employers. For the potential employees, they offer training and skill development that potential employers seek in areas including but not limited to manufacturing, healthcare, and hospitality.
“CWI is one partner in the system doing workforce development,” Daugherty explained. “NWI Works is a newer 501 (c) (3) organization that was created in collaboration with Goodwill of Michiana, United Way NWI, and Ivy Tech Community College. The four of us are the anchor workforce development service providers. Other collaborating members of NWI Works that are the wraparound support and thought leaders include Regional Care, Foodbank of Northwest Indiana, and CoAction.”
Daugherty also serves as president of the NWI Works board of directors.
The Opportunity Hub is filling a need in the region where it is needed the most.
“The idea behind the Hub is to go into the distressed neighborhoods so that we are easily accessible,” Daugherty explained. “These are communities with public transportation to access all of the resources they need in one place. And it is more than about partners who are located in a space. We are actually redesigning the client’s journey across the organizations so that it is a unified process. Potential employees are receiving specifically designed training within that space to meet those needs.”
Building a unified workforce ecosystem also requires strong community partnerships.
“There are faith-based partners that are immensely important with connecting the population who are interested in workforce development,” said Daugherty. “Community-based organizations play an important role, not necessarily training, but helping us connect with their clients who they refer to us.”
For some potential job seekers in the area, navigating the journey of training and skills development on their own is too hard, if not impossible. We are integrating processes and designing for continuous improvement, removing duplication and freeing resources to serve more people.
“There are a lot of people that want to work, but there are barriers that they are facing,” said Daugherty. “Affordable, quality childcare, affordable housing, they are all things that prevent people from working. People also know that they need more skills to be better qualified for good paying jobs, but they don’t know how to access that training nor know what financial resources are available.”
This work development ecosystem reduces the barriers and puts all of those resources and training in one place through the connections within their community.
NWI Works Opportunity Hub at Elston
In Michigan City, the former Elston High School is being repurposed into the Elston Opportunity Hub. The 320,000-square-foot facility conducts career-readiness programs, with educational workshops, and hands-on training sessions coming soon. Their focus is on the skills and training that is specific to the needs of the community.
“It was formerly the high school CTE program,” said Daugherty. “We are going to provide adult career and technical education there that complements what schools are providing. We are not duplicating training, rather we are trying to maximize resources to serve and train multiple populations. This is for job seekers that are in school, out of school, or adults who need training for their careers.”
Ultimately the focus is on creating career pathways for good paying, high demand careers. The training within the facility is entirely designed based on what local employers are telling us they need, and the skill requirements of the more than 75,000 jobs that are posted in the region. We must scale training to meet employer demand. Employers are looking for workers with higher levels of employability skills, including soft skills and a strong work ethic that lead to greater development of CTE and technical skills, preparing them for higher demand careers.
There are more than just classrooms and training facilities on site. “We have a space in Work One where we have multiple partners, so we are already doing the new level of collaborative work,” said Daugherty. “How the work is done together is how it will be successful. We are designing our processes together rather than having a separate space.”
The Hub’s effectiveness will be measured to ensure that this innovative method works for employees and employers alike.
“We are already required to report on significant performance indicators like job placement, job retention for six months and a year,” explained Daugherty. We also report on measurable skill gains. Within the hubs, we will be reporting on the collective outcomes across the partners, not just outcomes that are attached to federal funding. We will be making that very public, and of course we will evaluate the results and adjust to improve the outcome.”
The Opportunity Hub is a vital part of the workforce development concept.
“We are bridging the connections and bridging the gaps for individuals and employers,” expressed Daugherty. “There are a lot of people who want training and jobs, and there are a lot of employers who want trained, qualified people. We prepare them and match them here.” CWI also has offices at Elston, Goodwill of Michiana will have a space open soon, and there is more room for other community service providers.
More Opportunity Hubs in More Neighborhoods
The Elston Opportunity Hub is furthest developed because of funding from READI, the City of Michigan City and Michigan City Area Schools. This is a multi-phase project with funding required across all federal, state, local, and private sectors, based on the scale we are trying to achieve.
According to Daugherty, “In Gary, we are imagining a network of small hubs. Other organizations will be a part of that in Gary so that there will be multiple options based on career desires.” The same resources and concepts individualized by the support and needs of the community will contribute to the design of their programs.
How can the NWI Works Opportunity Hubs work for you? Daugherty has a message for both employers and job seekers.
“To the employers and community leaders, we are preparing individuals to be job ready. For these opportunities, we want you to reach out to us so that we can understand your needs, and design our programming to meet that need. To the job seekers, I want you to know that you can come into our hubs to learn about your interests, how your skills can be transferable, and how you can access those opportunities through us.”
Learn more about NWI Works at nwiworks.org.