POLICY UPDATES

Retooling for the Road Ahead, focusing on Sector Policy in the South
Increasingly, interest in sector strategies has grown among policy makers in southern states. Last year, NNSP collaborated with the Southern Growth Policies Board to host a mini-conference New Orleans, bringing together policy makers from Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee. Serving as a launching pad to engage southern policy makers, the convening explored how policy can be shaped to align education, workforce, and economic development agendas within these states. NNSP is currently exploring how it can support the growth of sector initiatives and the adoption of sector focused policy among southern states.


Massachusetts Workforce Development Trust Fund
Massachusetts is developing policy to implement the state’s new Workforce Development Trust Fund, which received state funding to support sector initiatives. Legislation to establish the fund, approved late in the 2006 legislative session, provided $11 million for competitive grants of up to $500,000 for up to three years. A coalition led by the Massachusetts Workforce Solutions group advocated for passage of the Workforce Development Trust Fund as part of a wide-ranging package of legislation that also provides funding for adult literacy, English as a Second Language, and incumbent worker training, in addition to other provisions.