WIN Workforce Innovation Now: Home Page

Welcome to a workspace designed to accelerate collaboration across North Idaho in education, workforce development and economic development. All around us, a new economy is emerging, an economy based on networks. This transformation calls on us to develop new approaches to integrating education, workforce development and economic development.

Collaboration -- improving our ability to handle complex projects with simple rules -- stands at the center of our efforts. This project is funded through the US Department of Labor, and it allows us  to make the seed investments we need in these new collaborations.

 We would love your involvement, and the good news is that you can choose to be a part of this project  - Workforce Innovation Now - through participating in discussions and workshops on topics aligned with your expertise or interests.

The Project purpose

The Idaho Department of Labor was successful in receiving an 18-month, $250,000 Regional Innovation Grant. The purpose of this grant is to develop a Regional Strategic Plan as to how we will transform our region (defined as the five northern counties of Idaho) from being a timber dependent economy to an economy that is diversified and focused on emerging industries that provide high growth and high wage jobs.  The plan must identify how we will assist unemployed individuals with returning to the workforce as quickly as possible and must outline how it will be implemented and sustained.  Aligning education, workforce development, and economic development is key to this strategy.

Thinking and doing as a region is extremely powerful and necessary as we move into the future.   Regional committees have been formed on topics participants from around the region have helped to identify.  Throughout this project, we will keep coming back to this question - What can we do better as a region both now and in the future? 

Industry Committees (focusing on workforce & training needs):

               ·         Healthcare (also includes access to & cost to employers)

·         Construction/Manufacturing (includes aerospace)

·         Tourism

·         Biomass

Umbrella Topic Committees (will look at how to improve, develop, or educate the region around these topics):

·         Funding (to implement the Regional Strategic plan)

·         Housing (includes affordable/workforce housing)

·         Image of the trades (middle skill) jobs/changing perceptions

·         Small Business (retention, expansion, recruitment)

·         Social Services (includes mental health/drug rehabilitation)

·         Infrastructure (water, sewer, internet/broadband, etc)

A schedule of upcoming workshops/Summits is listed in the events calendar.  I encourage you to join us!  Your help in developing a regional strategic plan that will define how we will continuously work together to improve our region and develop a better workforce is imperative.

We hope you'll join us. To become a member of this site, simply go to this page and use the invitation code: win.  As a member, you be be able to share your thoughts, news and action as we accelerate our innovation.