New York State Department of Labor
Profiles of Promising Practices
DESIGNATION OF YONKERS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
AS STAFF TO THE WIB
Yonkers Workforce Investment Board
July 2001 - Present

Purpose

• To fully engage the private sector in the process of workforce development in Yonkers.

How It Works

• Recognizing the need to engage the private sector, the Yonkers Workforce Investment Board (WIB) designated the Yonkers Chamber of Commerce to serve as staff to the WIB.
• The Chamber’s ties to the business community provided access to employers and helped identify employers’ workforce development needs in the area.

Results

• The initiative has produced a plan of corrective action to increase WIA enrollment that includes recommendations such as:
  • All One-Stop center staff be cross-trained for eligibility procedures
  • Front line staff provide the maximum services and benefits available to each customer

How They Did It

• The former Yonkers Private Industry Council, which was the lead agency responsible for providing employment and training services prior to Federal Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), was consulted about how to staff the WIB.
• In addition, Chamber of Commerce leadership met with local elected officials, labor unions and business leaders as well as contacting other WIB's to assess their organizational structure.
• The Yonkers WIB determined that in order to engage the private sector to the greatest extent possible, the local Yonkers Chamber of Commerce was the best administrative entity to serve as staff for the WIB.

Start-Up Costs

• Not applicable. The WIB offices are co-located in the same facility as the Yonkers Chamber of Commerce.

Operating Costs

• Members of the WIB Board of Directors donate their time and efforts on a volunteer basis.
• The three full-time staff to the WIB are paid through appropriate administrative and program funding streams.

Funding

• The WIB continues to seek out funding opportunities from grantor agencies to support the ongoing efforts of the system.
• The WIB received a $25,000 grant through Phase I of Assessing Local Skills Shortages from the New York State Department of Labor for outreach to local businesses. A portion of these resources was used for an employer survey sent out to 5,000 local businesses to gain a sense of the skills gap in the local area.
• All partners share a minimal portion of costs associated with sustaining the system.

Lessons Learned

• It remains an ongoing challenge to convince the business community that the WIB is their one-stop resource for recruiting, training and screening potential employees and providing a skilled and prepared workforce.
• Fully engaging the businesses is important – they needed to truly buy into the system.