CEO Message: Workforce Development (April 2022)
Tahoe Chamber | April 5, 2022 | Chamber News • Monthly CEO Message
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Workforce development has been, and will continue to be, of paramount importance here in the Lake Tahoe Basin and to Tahoe Chamber. Every business has challenges it faces, and certainly recruiting and retaining skilled and qualified workers ranks high, if not highest, on that list of challenges. According to a leading economic development consulting firm, 70 to 90 % of new jobs come from the expansion of existing companies in communities. But how do you expand when the talent pool is shrinking? One way might be to look beyond the traditional sources of potential employees and fortunately for us here in the basin, we have some agencies who can help. In this blog, I will focus on two – ADVANCE and the Department of Rehabilitation. In a future message, I will focus on two more – Golden Sierra Training on the California side and JOIN, Inc. on the Nevada side.
ADVANCE is located at Lake Tahoe Community College. Their motto is Learn, Earn, Grow. ADVANCE is a collaborative network of education and government agencies, local organizations, and employers serving the Lake Tahoe Basin and Alpine County. Their mission is to support and empower adults seeking to enhance their career, educational, and civic opportunities. They also offer training programs, including apprenticeships, to help meet the workforce needs of our industry partners. They offer adult learners the chance to add to their skills and have programs that directly address the needs of employers here on the South Shore, including the Tahoe Culinary Academy and a Lift Maintenance internship.
For more information, click here:
Website https://advance-learnearngrow.org/
Retrospective https://issuu.com/news_review/docs/advance-hiresrgb
Another resource that might not come immediately to mind is the DOR – State of California Department of Rehabilitation. This from Charles Bowyer, Service Coordinator for the South Lake Tahoe office:
The CA Department of Rehabilitation (DOR) works to provide vocational rehabilitation to people with disabilities. DOR’s goal is for its clients to achieve stable and competitive employment in integrated settings resulting in greater independence and equality for them.
Their physical and or mental disabilities result in substantial work impediments compared to people without disabilities. But DOR clients have unique strengths, abilities, and interests that make them valuable employees, especially once they learn to deal successfully with the impediments. Also, besides getting great employees, employers who hire people with disabilities may qualify for Work Opportunity Tax Credits.
Everything done by DOR plus the vendors and other stakeholders it partners with is always based on the employment goal in a client’s individualized plan. That includes vocational rehabilitation counseling and the provision of services, goods, and resources. The plan and its goal are developed together by the client and their vocational rehabilitation counselor taking the client’s interests, abilities, and strengths into account along with their disabilities.
DOR has many offices throughout the state including its central office in Sacramento, twelve district offices, and many branch offices including one in South Lake Tahoe. The provision of services, goods, and resources to clients is coordinated by staff in the applicable DOR office(s) plus the partnered with vendors and other stakeholders. Those vendors and other stakeholders contribute a lot to the success of DOR and its clients.
For more information about DOR services and or partnerships, you can go to www.dor.ca.gov/Home/GettingStarted or call Charles Bowyer in the South Lake Tahoe office at 530-541-3227.
Tahoe Chamber will continue to take a lead role in being a Convener, Catalyst and Champion for workforce development.
Cheers,
Mike