New York State Department of Labor
Profiles of Promising Practices
BUSINESS OUTREACH INITIATIVE
Cattaraugus-Allegany Workforce Investment Board
July, 2000 - Present

Purpose

• To obtain input from businesses to identify occupational skills shortages and services that need to be addressed in the region.

How It Works

• The Cattaraugus-Allegany Workforce Investment Board (WIB) obtains input from businesses on their service needs in the following ways:
  • Business representatives fill out a questionnaire when they register for Cattaraugus-Allegany WIB’s Business Services.
  • Business customers continuously provide feedback on the quality of services they have received.
• The WIB then analyzes the feedback to determine workforce development priorities.

Results

• Increasing the visibility of the WIB and the community’s knowledge of their services.
• Businesses are able to learn about and access business services without making an application for WIA training funds.
• Solid collaborations among both mandated and non-mandated partners.
• Data are currently being collected to measure outcomes, such as the number of registrations, registrations that lead to use of labor exchange services, and training assistance request responses.

How They Did It

• The Cattaraugus-Allegany WIB formed a Training Committee with a regional labor organization, active members from businesses, and partner organizations.
• The committee developed recommendations and draft practices.
• The Cattaraugus-Allegany WIB then reviewed and adopted polices and procedures set out by the Training Committee.
• Specific implementation activities were focused on the development of:
  • Registration, application and response forms.
  • Policies and procedures for training assistance requests.
  • Customized training assistance contracts.
  • A website to solicit business feedback.
  • A revised Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that gathers information about business services from all system partners.

Start-Up Costs

• $5,500 for the interactive business section of the website that has online registration, applications for training funds, and a survey section.

Operating Costs

• $750 per year for website maintenance and supplies.

Funding

• WIA Title I.
• Most of the expenditures for the website were through State and WIA funding.

Lessons Learned

• The information exchange (business ability to provide input to the system and to get back local labor information) was of interest to businesses, but not enough to keep them engaged.
  • Businesses that get labor exchange or training services directly from the WIB maintain an ongoing relationship.
  • As a result, the WIB had to go back and do additional face-to-face work with employers who did not have a previous relationship with the WIB.
• The Outreach efforts required to fully engage businesses are much greater than originally anticipated.