Innovation:
Addressing Regional Economic Priorities
One important innovation in recent years has been the strengthening of links between economic development and workforce development activities. Some state governments have taken a lead role in aligning these activities at the state level in order to respond to the pressures brought by an increasingly global economy and the need to ensure that local employers are satisfied with the skill levels of the local workforce (Biswas, Mills, & Prince, 2005).
More and more, however, this alignment between economic development and workforce development is taking place at the regional level, which has been encouraged by the federal government as evidenced through the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) initiative.
Regions awarded grants under the WIRED program are likely familiar with many examples of regional alignment of economic and workforce development activities. Additional examples from the literature are provided below.
Related Organizational Examples