Project Overview
Third Sector is working with Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area, Workforce Network, Inc., Smithville Workforce Training Center, training partners, and employers to build and strengthen sector partnerships in the skilled trades, health care, finance, and IT sectors. This effort will recruit, train, and place working people in seven rural counties in central Texas into quality jobs. This initiative is one of two Third Sector projects awarded funding through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Good Jobs Challenge.
Most of us believe that everyone deserves the opportunity to build the life of our dreams — no matter what we look like, our circumstances, or where we live. But, in many rural communities, there are fewer opportunities to obtain jobs that pay a living wage than in more heavily populated communities. And for new and growing businesses in rural communities, there are often gaps between what employers are looking for, what education and training partners provide, what skills jobseekers may have, or wraparound support they need.
As a result, many rural communities see a "brain drain" to suburban and urban areas, and new, burgeoning industries struggle to build the pipeline of workers that will grow their businesses and improve rural America's economic base.
Recognizing the importance of incentivizing and supporting economic innovation that can lead to thriving new industries and "good jobs" that pay Americans a living wage, the federal government appropriated $500 million in 2021 to the U.S. Department of Commerce to administer the Good Jobs Challenge. The department awarded funds to 32 employer-led sector workforce training partnerships to invest in innovative approaches to workforce development.
In 2022, Third Sector joined a Good Jobs Challenge collaborative with Workforce Solutions Rural Capital Area, Workforce Network, Inc., Smithville Workforce Training Center, training partners, and employers to build and strengthen partnerships in the skilled trades, health care, finance, and IT sectors. The collaborative, named Rural Employers Infuse Vital Economic Success in Texas (REINVEST), supports inclusivity for all people regardless of race, background, or circumstance, and builds economic opportunities for working people and employers in seven rural counties in central Texas who have been historically underserved by economic development projects and business investments.
Third Sector provided strategic guidance in developing and standing up employer-led and worker-centered sector partnerships in the seven rural counties, adapting national models like Next Gen to the unique needs of rural communities. Third Sector also provided training and resources to backbone organizations to enhance employer leadership including how to support employers to define critical skills gaps, improve quality jobs, and strengthen organizational culture and employee retention.
Going forward, Third Sector will provide technical assistance in helping the partners sustain affordable high-quality training programs and healthy workforce pipelines into good jobs that will strengthen families and communities in rural Texas. Third Sector will also train the partner organizations in using data for continuous improvement to evolve programs and practices - in these sectors and future sectors - to ensure the partnership can meet its goal of training or upskilling more than 750 individuals in the career of their dreams.
Since its launch in 2022, REINVEST has created new sector partnerships in the skilled trades, health care, and finance fields and has launched, scaled, or planned new training programs for plumbers, electricians, CDL drivers, licensed vocational nurses, registered nurses, bookkeepers, and more.
In addition, the partnership developed and is committed to a shared definition of "good jobs" that will ensure jobseekers trained through REINVEST obtain greater economic mobility. A "good job" must:
- Meet or exceed the local prevailing wage for an industry in the region;
- Provide benefits (e.g., paid leave, health insurance, retirement/savings plan); and
- Provide opportunities for skill development and career advancement.
Third Sector has begun the next phase of work training the partner organizations in using data for continuous improvement.
Workforce Pathways
| Project Name | Scope | Location | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Coordinating Employer-Driven Sector Partnerships to Strengthen Early Child Care Employment and Training in Massachusetts | State | MA | Closed |
| Third Sector worked with the City of Boston's Office of Workforce Development, Community Advocates for Young Learners (CAYL) Institute, the Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care, training partners, and workforce boards to build and strengthen sector partnerships in the field of early care and education. This effort helped to identify collaborators to recruit, train, and place teachers in the Greater Boston area to scale up the pipeline to careers in early childhood education. This initiative is one of two projects awarded to Third Sector through the U.S. Department of Commerce's Good Jobs Challenge. | |||
| Better Careers Design Group: Using Human-Centered Design to Advance Equitable Economic Outcomes in California | County | CA | Closed |
| The Better Careers Design Group was a multi-year initiative across four California counties that brought together government agencies, nonprofits, and local community members to design human-centered and outcomes-oriented solutions for systemic workforce challenges and to advance the equitable economic outcomes in California. Third Sector led the group of 20 participating organizations through each phase of the human-centered design process so that local teams could apply lessons learned to engaging members of their local community. | |||
