Workforce Development Board to Receive Over $1M in Funding
The Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) earlier this month announced 10 regional workforce development organizations across the state will receive nearly $10.3 million in grants through the second round of funding awarded through the Worker Advancement Initiative (WAI).
The North Central Wisconsin Workforce Development Board (NCWWDB), serving Vilas, Oneida, Forest, Lincoln, Langlade, Marathon, Wood, and Portage counties, is one of the recipients. Set to receive $1.065 million, those funds will support 85 participants with short-term training opportunities in healthcare, child care, tourism-related occupations, welding, home energy audit and solar installation, CDL, and construction trades.
Construction courses will be offered in conjunction with local technical colleges and trainers with a focus on engaging unemployed and underemployed workers and individuals re-entering the workforce following incarceration.
The WAI was first launched in 2021 as part of the governor's groundbreaking Workforce Solutions Initiative and funded by the state's allocation of federal relief funds. In total, projects receiving funding through the second round of the WAI are projected to help more than 1,400 Wisconsinites find or improve their employment through paid work-based learning and classroom training.
"Over the past several years, including in 2024 the Year of the Worker, we've been hard at work to reduce barriers to work, address our state's generational workforce shortages, and build the 21st-century workforce needed to support a 21st-century economy," said Gov. Tony Evers. "We're continuing to build upon these tremendously successful efforts, and we're proud to have helped tens of thousands of our friends and neighbors successfully enter or move up in the workforce, and these investments will continue that good work in communities across our state."
Included in Gov. Evers’ Workforce Solutions Initiative were three innovative programs: the Workforce Innovation Grant Program, the Workforce Advancement Initiative, and the Worker Connection Program. The first round of grants awarded through the WAI were targeted to serve more than 2,300 Wisconsinites, and to date, programs included in the governor’s Workforce Solutions Initiative have collectively served more than 33,000 Wisconsinites across the state.
In that first round of grants, NCWWDB was awarded $999,900 in grant funding to serve 100 participants. That original round of funding went toward conducting five short-term training projects in healthcare, childcare, tourism, welding, and construction/renewable energy.
These were offered in conjunction with the local technical colleges and focused on engaging unemployed individuals and underemployed workers. Targeted populations included unemployed/underemployed, re-entry populations, individuals in AODA treatment, and individuals with disabilities. NCWWDB also leveraged its existing industry partnerships to identify work-based training opportunities.
"We are very excited to be working closely with the local workforce development boards that serve people throughout the state of Wisconsin," said DWD Secretary Amy Pechacek. "This investment of over $10 million will help people who are struggling to find employment by removing barriers that often can make or break an individual's ability to get or stay in the workforce and expanding training opportunities in some of our state's most in-demand fields."
Participants served through the WAI will benefit from a continuum of services, including paid work experience opportunities to develop and/or enhance job skills; training so participants can acquire occupational skills connected to in-demand jobs along with critical work-based skills needed to succeed; on-the-job training opportunities that will lead to economic self-sufficiency; and supportive services to address related barriers to employment, which may include assistance for child care, housing, transportation, and worker stipends.