Leveraging State Economic Development Resources to Create Job Opportunities...

"State and local economic development agencies are a largely untapped resource for increasing employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. This brief highlights existing state, regional, and local economic development resource tools and discusses ways in which states and localities can leverage traditional loan and financing programs that enhance job creation, provide access to local employment opportunities, or help support employment for residents, including those with disabilities" (p.1). (Abstractor: Author)

Full publication title: Leveraging State Economic Development Resources to Create Job Opportunities for People with Disabilities

"These tactics, underway in many states, offer an opportunity for state officials to embed opportunities for people with disabilities into existing state economic development and workforce development initiatives. These tactics include: - Creating stronger partnerships between state workforce development agencies and employers that currently meet state economic growth objectives" (p.5). - "Bringing together an array of federal and state funding streams to support a large, single coordinated state or regional worker education and skills training program" (p.6). - "Aligning location-specific state or regionally led economic development strategies with broader workforce development goals in the state" (p.6). - "Financing and developing customized employment and training programs in partnership with industries targeted for future economic development assistance" (p.6) "Other tactics that could also be developed include: - Enacting legislation" (p.6). - "Establishing targeted training through state and local EDAs" (p.6). - "Creating partnerships by matching businesses receiving assistance from the EDA with public or non-profit agencies that work with job seekers with disabilities, especially businesses with a track record of recruiting and hiring a diversifi ed workforce that includes individuals with disabilities" (p.6). (Abstractor: Author)

• Last Updated:
• Created:
• Resource Publication Date: 2009
• Author(s): Kopicki, Allison; Krepcio, Kathy; Van Horn, Carl
• Organizational Author(s): National Technical Assistance and Research Center (NTAR), Leadership Center
• Funding Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy
• Resource Availability: Publicly available
• Posted by: Wesley Peterson
• Posted in: Workforce System Strategies