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Members of the media should contact Emily Wood at 617.728.4446 ext.155 (office) or 617.869.4528 (cell), ewood@jff.org

Newsletter Archive

Past issues of "National Fund Works," the National Fund monthly newsletter.

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Press Releases from the National Fund

National Fund and National Fund Sites in the News

Workforce Central's Rick Merdan wrote an op-ed on manufacturing and the skills gap in Central Wisconsin in the Wisconsin Rapids Tribune.

Cincy Magazine features Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network in "A Changing Labor Market."

Workforce Central's Pathways Program was featured in the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune.

The $300,000 Social Innovation Grant awarded to the Dan River Region Collaborative by NFWS to "expand systems change, training and capacity-building efforts."

Workforce Innovations in Northwest Louisiana, the newest NFWS funding collaborative, received a $300,000 Social Innovation Fund grant to fund health and energy partnerships and was covered in The Shreveport Times.

The $600,000 Social Innovation Fund grant received Bay Area Workforce Collaborative was the focus on a feature story in the San Francisco Business Times.

NFWS executive director, Fred Dedrick, was interviewed on the Bloomberg News program "In Business with Margaret Brennan." Among the topics discussed were workforce training in the American Jobs Bill and the skills gap.

 

Click here to watch the entire segment. 

The Gulf Coast Business Review reports that in the first six months of 2011, CareerEdge has trained 833 incumbent workers and jobseekers and has helped 159 individuals move from the unemployment rolls to positions with local manufacturers.

Community Foundation of Greater South Wood County president & CEO Kelly Lucas was named one of The NonProfit Times' Power & Influence Top 50 of 2011.

The Gulf Coast Business Review reported that the CareerEdge Funders Collaborative is helping Sarasota County’s largest manufacturer fill the need for new skilled labor. Since opening an office in Bradenton in September, CareerEdge has trained 682 employees — including 289 new hires.

The Wisconsin Rapids Tribune reported on a study to be funded by Workforce Central that will provide the Wisconsin Rapids area with an "economic development" snapshot that will assess "how a changing economy is affecting local development efforts."

A recent story in the Boston Herald (subscription required) profiled green jobs training taking place in Boston and supported by SkillWorks.

National Fund Executive Director Fred Dedrick appeared on The Lincoln Brown Show recently to discuss jobs, unemployment, the economy, and workforce development.

The Wisconsin Rapids-Tribune covered a visit by U.S. Rep. Sean Duffy to Workforce Central during Congressman Duffy met with the collaborative's partners and saw "firsthand the successful infrastructure being built on a dual-customer approach: meeting employers' workforce needs and training area job seekers to gain the skills needed to work in today's economy."

The Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce highlighted a study released by the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund which found that many workers in Detroit area lack "the basic skills necessary for employment in even the most entry-level employment opportunities, highlighting a number of serious challenges in the region’s education and employment infrastructure." The study is available for download here.

The Tampa Bay Business Journal covered an effort by CareerEdge and Tervis, a local employer, to place jobseekers and assist incumbent workers with career ladder.

The Associated Press reported on a visit to the 1199C Training and Upgrading Fund by the U.S. Secretaries of Education and Labor. Secretary Duncan and Secretary Solis were in Philadelphia to raise awareness of the Administration's support for community colleges and "promote collaborations that help adult learners join the workforce and obtain college degrees."

The Phildelphia Inquirer also reported on the visit of Secretaries Duncan and Solis to the 1199C Training and Upgrading Fund to discuss community colleges and importance of partnerships to address health care workforce challenges.

Business First covered the Social Fund Innovation subgrant award made to  the Working Partners of Greater Louisville. Louisville was one of six new communites in the south and southwest added to the National Fund through this second around of SIF subgrant awards.

Seth Green, Director of the Job Opportunity Investment Network, penned this blog post for the BCLC Blog discussing JOIN's success and unique approach to work development. Writes Seth: "The secret sauce of the JOIN effort is that we invest in industry-led, job-training partnership. These partnerships work by forming a bridge between corporations and communities."

The Times-Picayune covered a news conference during which "[Senator Mary] Landrieu and the Greater New Orleans Foundation announced a new workforce-development grant from President Barack Obama's Social Innovation Fund, through the National Fund for Workforce Solutions." New Orleans was one of six new communities in the south and southwest to receive a SIF subgrant from the National Fund. The "grant will create a never-before coordinated system of government agencies and nonprofit groups . . . to link up employers from the growing biosciences sector with trained employees while also giving low-income jobseekers with training, education and workforce opportunities."

The Greater New Orleans Foundation announced that it was one of six collaboratives in the south and southwest to receive a grant the National Fund under its Social Innovation Fund award. The funds will enable the collaborative to "better align incumbent worker training funding with emerging needs in the health care and biosciences sectors, marketing the availability of these funds to local employers."

The Greenville News reported (paid subscription req'd.) that the "Greenville Regional Funding Collaborative was one of six communities to receive $300,000 to create innovation approaches to training and career development needs" as part of the National Fund's implementation of the Social Innovation Fund grant that it received last year.

The Mobile Press-Register reported that a "Mobile-based group that coordinates worker training in eight southwest Alabama counties has won $300,000 to help connect low-wage workers to training opportunities and improve employer involvement in deciding what skills are taught." The Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council in Mobile, Alabama was one of six new communities in the south and southwest added to the National Fund through subgrant awards made through the Social Innovation Fund.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune recently reported on a $209,000 grant that CareerEdge received from Microsoft that it will use "to launch technology-skills training and job placement in Manatee and Sarasota counties."

The Business Courier recently reported on changes to management at the Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network that will enable it to expand its efforts.

This oped in The New York Times by Diana Lind highlights the work of the Job Opportunity Investment Network. JOIN is spotlighted a program that "supports workforce training programs that have a hyperlocal impact" on community-specific challenges such as vacancy and joblessness in Philadelphia.

MLive.com covered the launch of the Detroit Regional Workforce Fund which will "address the growing gap between the skills workers in Michigan currently have and those they will need to fill the thousands of middle-skill jobs that will be coming as the economy improves."

The Philadelphia Business Journal recently highlighted the Social Innovation Fund grant that the National Fund made to the Job Opportunity Investment Network "to expand its program for helping low-skill, low-wage workers improve their skills and get better jobs."

KPBS recently highlighted the work of the San Diego Workforce Funders Collaborative in training workers at Community Health Centers.

The Business Courier reported that the Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network will receive $600,000 from the National Fund "over two years to expand its innovative approaches to job training and career support" of part of the National Fund's grant from the Social Innovation Fund.

The Wausau Daily Herald covered the $400,000 made by the National Fund to Partners for Workforce Innovation in South Wood County "to expand the project's efforts in south Wood County, which includes on-the-job training, access to industrywide certification programs and assistance in finding jobs."

The Wisconsin Rapids Tribune recognized the National Fund's awarding of $400,000 from its Social Innovation Fund award to Partners for Workforce Innovation in South Wood County, Wisconsin.

CBS21 in Harrisburg, PA published news of the Social Innovation Fund grant made by the National Fund to the Pennsylvania Fund for Workforce Solutions.

Citybizlist, a news service in Baltimore, highlighted the recent $600,000 two-year award made by the National Fund to the Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative as part of the National Fund's grant from the Social Innovation.

The National Skills Coalition recently reported on a trip co-sponsored by the National Fund during which a coalition of 17 employers from health care, construction, manufacturing, and clean energy companies met with leaders at the White House and on Capitol Hill "to discuss skill gaps in their industries, how sector partnerships can help fill those gaps, and why the SECTORS Act is a political winner with strong bipartisan support."

The Massachusetts Workforce Board Association highlighted two recent events that SkillWorks has been involved with: the Workforce and Jobs Summit and the Gubernatorial Forum.

The Des Moines Business Register chronicles how Central Iowa Works helped Bill Gray obtain training and new skills to switch careers after he was laid off from his industrial job.

In this story on President Obama's emphasis on the role of community colleges in workforce development, National Journal quotes Fred Dedrick, Executive DIrector of the National Fund.

The Maddux Report also reported that the Manatee Sarasota Workforce Funders Collaborative has joined the National Fund as its newest site.

The City of Bradenton published news that the Manatee Sarasota Workforce Funders Collaborative has become the National Fund's newest Regional Collaborative.

In their guest column, "Training workers is key to future," these employers express their support for a state policy measure which would institutionalize the Industry Partnership model.

Seth Green, Executive Director of the Job Opportunity Investment Network, penned this article on the 21st-Century Workforce for the Philadelphia Social Innovations Journal.

The Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network was part of a collaborative effort that leveraged $880,000 in local funds to secure a federal Second Chance Act Offender Reentry Demonstration grant of nearly $750,000, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported. The grant will help establish a Hamilton County Reentry Office to coordinate re-entry services, as well as fund a transitional employment demonstration project to help 200 ex-offenders transition into employment during the first year.

National Fund Executive Director Fred Dedrick penned this post on the role of philanthropy in developing new approaches to putting people back to work for the Council on Foundations' Re:Philanthropy blog.

The Greater Cincinnati Workforce Network was a featured part of this story on the new age of manufacturing in The Cincinnati Enquirer on September 6, 2010.

Loh-Sze Leung, executive director of SkillWorks, the National Fund regional collaborative in Boston, is the co-author of "Time, Skill, Needed to Fix Economy," an op-ed in the Boston Herald (Aug. 8, 2010) discussing the skills gap and its impact on the Massachusetts economy.

The Bradenton Herald (FL) reports (Aug. 5, 2010) on a site visit by Fred Dedrick, National Fund Executive Director, to the CareerEdge Funders Collaborative Manatee Sarasota.

Coverage of National Fund sites receiving the Distinguished Grantmaking Award for Collaboration includes the Wichita Business Journal (April 28, 2010) reporting on the Preparation for Aviation and Advanced Career Employment System (PACES), the funding collaborative in Wichita.

Four local newspapers (The Times-Virginian, the Alta-Vista Journal, the Star-Tribune, and the Union-Star [April 30, 2010]) covered the fact that the Dan River Region Collaborative, based in Danville, VA, took part in receiving the award.

The Medical Assistant Training Program of the North County Health Services, supported by the San Diego Workforce Funders Collaborative, is featured in the July 4, 2010 issue of the North County Times.

© 2011 National Fund for Workforce Solutions