For the past two years, NNSP has partnered with the National Governors Association and Corporation for a Skilled Workforce on the groundbreaking “Accelerating the Adoption of State Sector Strategies” project. The project brings together teams that include state policy makers and leaders of sector initiatives. It has three tracks that support their efforts to scale up sector strategies —the Learning Network, Policy Academy, and the Knowledge Exchange—for advanced, emerging, and new state sector strategies. The project provides state leaders with the opportunity to learn from each other, collaborate, and solve common problems. As the project continues, we will provide updates on this learning through a variety of formats and events.

Several key issues have emerged as priorities among the Learning Network states. Many are trying to tie their state’s sector activities more closely with business recruitment, expansion, and retention strategies. Furthermore, many are shaping or reshaping their state policy to better serve TANF-eligible populations through sector programs. Additionally, the Learning Network states are currently fashioning a model for performance measures that gauge the success of state sector policy and initiatives.

The Policy Academy states are working on a variety of policy and programmatic changes to scale up their states’ sector efforts. These include improving industry analysis, creating career pathways in community colleges, and reshaping their states’ WIA infrastructure.

The Knowledge Exchange provides policy makers and sector initiative leaders with a variety of resources including online webinar presentations, research, and opportunities to interact with others interested in sector policy. The Knowledge Exchange also serves as the repository for learnings from the Policy Academy and Learning Network. Please take the chance explore the Knowledge Exchange at www.sectorstrategies.org. To learn more about the Accelerating the Adoption of State Sector Strategies project, download the project summary here.