Senator Patty Murray and Senator Maria Cantwell are hosting a free presentation on federal grants and the appropriations process at a “Federal Funding Symposium” Fri., Nov. 2 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.

The event is one of several being held across the state in November. It is co-hosted by WSU Vancouver and will be held at the campus, located at 14204 NE Salmon Creek Ave., Vancouver, Administration Building Room 129.

Topics covered will include:
• Tips on submitting a successful grant application
• Finding the right funding source for your project
• Working with your congressional delegation
• Current outlook and trends for appropriations.
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Please RSVP: click here



Local Students Earn Oregon Building Congress Scholarships

Ruslan Gusa, a senior at Battle Ground High School, and Daniel Bienapfl, a Castle Rock High School Senior, each received a scholarship and award from the Oregon Building Congress during its annual awards banquet on October 10.

The young men are graduates of Youth Workforce Program’s Construction Academy. The Youth Workforce Program and its Career Academies are funded by the SWWDC as part of its Youth Program.

Gusa and Bienapfl were each presented with a $500 scholarship and an “Outstanding Student Award” for demonstrating strong work ethic, a passion for the trades, perfect or near perfect attendance, and leadership skills. They are both interested in entering the trades and have plans to attend community college following high school graduation.

The Oregon Building Congress is an organization dedicated to attracting a quality and diverse workforce to the building industry.

Making a career change or going back to school to learn new skills can be challenging, but local workforce development agencies have resources available to help.

Join Cowlitz and Wahkiakum county workforce development and community partners at the “Career Transitions: Opportunity for Change” symposium on Thursday, November 8, from 11:00 am to 9:00 pm.

The Cowlitz County Expo and Conference Center is located at
1900 7th Avenue in Longview.

Drop by at your convenience to learn about:


• Careers, occupations, and employers needing your skills and expertise
  
• Sources to help you assess your skills, update your resume, access job search tools, and practice your interviewing skills
  
• Education and training courses and programs to help you retool or upgrade your skills
  
• Financial resources to help you cover training, housing, health, and other costs during your time of transition
  
• Mental health resources to support you and your family through challenging times
  
  The Career Transitions Symposium is brought to you by:
  
• Goodwill
  
• Lower Columbia College
  
• Lower Columbia Community Action Council
  
• Southwest Washington Workforce Development Council
  
• WorkSource
  
• Washington Employment Security Department
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  Council on the Leading Edge of Program Transformation Through National Learning Partnership
  
  Whether helping Workforce Investment Boards reinvent the way they help clients reassess services in light of a changing economy, or offering strategic planning guidance, the SWWDC is a national leader in transforming state and local workforce investment boards through peer-to-peer mentoring.
  
  SWWDC Executive Director Lisa Nisenfeld says the WDC first got involved in the program as a mentee, receiving assistance through the U.S. Department of Labor's National Learning Partnership from the Hampden County Workforce Investment Board in Springfield, MA. She says the experience was a critical step in the effort to reinvent the Southwest Washington WorkSource system. The highly successful program has since received national kudos.
  
  Diane Walton of the U.S. Department of Labor says, "the WDC has been a key player in the National Business Learning Partnership since its inception."
  
  "The Learning Partnership has an overarching interest in creating the right environment to make change in local workforce investment areas, and the WDC has been invaluable as a mentor this past year," Walton says.
  
  For the past year, SWWDC has served as a mentor, teaming up with its Portland counterpart, WorkSystems Inc., to mentor peers in North Carolina and Colorado.
  
  In North Carolina, Nisenfeld, Lynne St. Jean and Andrew McGough of WorkSystems, Inc. worked with the High Country Investment Board in Appalachia to help develop a strategic plan in the context of a low unemployment, high poverty region with changing employment needs.
  
  Travel expenses are covered by the Labor Department. Next winter, Nisenfeld expects to lead a team to Denver to help develop staff training for a new “One Stop Employment” program and to create a credentials curriculum.
  
  Nisenfeld emphasizes that mentoring outreach offers significant benefits for mentees as well.
  
  Referring to her team’s experience in North Carolina, she says, “It was enlightening for us. We had to find new ways for WorkSource to reach out and address poverty through employment, which is critical for us here as well, as our economy shifts to higher employment, but with a simultaneous increase in service-based jobs.”
  
  SWWDC Brings Self-Sufficiency Calculator to Region
  
  A powerful counseling tool is now available to help working adults better understand what it will take to meet their basic needs.
  
  The Self-Sufficiency Calculator is a free, online tool that determines how much income working adults need to meet their basic needs, based on factors such as family size, county of residence, housing costs, taxes, and many other factors.
  
  The calculator provides clients with information on wage adequacy to help them determine goals and strategies to achieve self-sufficiency. It also can be used to measure the results and impact of organizations in assisting customers and their families to become economically self-sufficient.
  
  The SWWDC is bringing the Self-Sufficiency Calculator to SW Washington, where it will be available free to anyone who wishes to use it.
  
  Self-Sufficiency Calculator Fact Sheet
  
  The Calculator is designed to:
  
  1) Help low-income individuals and jobseekers with career planning and budgeting
  
  2) Help the SWWDC and other area organizations determine the true impact of its programs on customers’ ability to provide for their families and be economically self-sufficient
  
  Key Facts about the Self-Sufficiency Calculator
  
  *Free for anyone to use at www.swwdc.org (beginning November 2007)
  
  *Based on the Self-Sufficiency Standard for Washington, a series of formulas developed by Dr. Diana Pearce of the University of Washington School of Social Work
  
  *Shows costs for 70 different family types, based on the number and ages of dependents
  
  *Using 2006 information on the cost of basic needs in all Washington counties, the calculator shows the earnings required for a specific family to be self-sufficient, i.e., to meet its needs without public assistance
  
  *Calculates expenses of the following basic needs: housing, child care, food, transportation, health care, miscellaneous and taxes
  
  *Is customized for the family’s area of residence in all counties.
  
  *Expense amounts can be customized to reflect the family’s real current costs
  
  *Can be used to test scenarios, such as whether a career path or specific job will pay enough to cover a family’s needs or how moving to another part of the county might affect a family’s expenses
  
  *Takes into consideration any public subsidies the user receives, and shows subsidies he/she might be eligible for and how to access them
  
  *Includes a database that tracks whether customers made progress toward economic self-sufficiency during their participation
  
  How is the Self-Sufficiency Calculator Used?
  
  The Calculator provides the following positive benefits:
  
  Allows Front-Line Staff To:
  
  *Help clients set realistic career and earning goals
  
  *Provide a foundation for basic financial literacy counseling
  
  *Quickly assess the impact of work supports on a customer’s career/training plan
  
  Provides Program Clients With:
  
  *Accurate cost-of-living and wage information specific to their community
  
  *A basic “reality check” about their income which is the first step towards comprehensive financial literacy
  
  *A tool to help build and track household budgets
  
  *Quick links to other resources
  
  Allows Program Managers To:
  
  *Document agency impact on client progress toward self-sufficiency
  
  Provides Policymakers With:
  
  * Data that measures state and regional progress toward closing the wage-gap for working families
  
  *Baseline data to drive economic development strategies that generate more living-wage jobs
  

“Sector Strategies: Building Washington's Workforce, Industry by Industry” is the theme of the Workforce and Economic Development 2007 Leadership Conference to be held November 13-15, 2007 in Tacoma at the Tacoma Sheraton Hotel and Conference Center.
This year’s theme continues the intersection between economic and workforce development by emphasizing policies and programs that implement effective cluster and sector strategies, expand the workforce pipeline, benefit employers and employees, and create opportunities for individuals with barriers to career success.

Who Should Attend:
Community and technical college leaders, Workforce Development Council board members and staff, economic development professionals, WorkSource managers, adult education leaders, K-12 career & technical education and youth development leaders, businesses, labor organizations, trade associations, state officials, and economic development leaders.

The conference fee is $249 (plus $99 if you wish to attend one of two preconference workshops).

Online Registration: click here

Lydia Work appointed to Board of Directors

SWWDC Executive Director Lisa Nisenfeld has announced that Lydia Work, CEO of American Paper Converting in Woodland, has been appointed to the SWWDC Board of Directors. Work represents the private sector in Cowlitz County.