WDC leads national gathering on homeless jobseekers

Workforce and homeless services leaders from five cities across the country will come together tomorrow in Seattle to share their expertise in serving the employment needs of homeless individuals. Thanks to a generous grant to the WDC from the Butler Family Fund, leaders from Houston, Miami, Portland and Phoenix will join Seattle in this first-ever convening of Workforce Investment Boards like...

WDC honored for leadership in employment for the homeless

On September 7, the WDC of Seattle-King County was honored by Building Changes for our leadership and commitment to homeless jobseekers. The WDC and Building Changes have worked together over the last several years to increase access to job training and improve employment outcomes for people who are homeless.  In spring 2010, the WDC and Building Changes partnered to promote system integration...

WDC’s Greenlight Project highlighted as promising practice

A new report profiles the WDC’s Greenlight Project as a Promising Practice for other Recovery Act grantees around the nation. The Compendium of Promising Practices Profiles describes the WDC’s partnership approach and outcomes to date as one of about 15 projects nationwide chosen through an expert and peer review. (The section on the WDC starts on page 61 of the...

Sen. Murray supports WIA and career pathways in Ballard visit

Senator Patty Murray joined WDC CEO Marlena Sessions on April 26 for a tour and press event at Pacific Fishermen Shipyard in Ballard. Following a tour of Pacific Fishermen—which has been building and repairing boats in Ballard since the 1880s and which is a strong partner of the SoDo Inc. youth program funded by the WDC, as well as the WDC’s Maritime Sector Panel—Marlena emceed a short...

WDC in the top 4 of workforce boards

A new report places the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County in the top four of workforce boards across the nation and shares our success in getting jobseekers into high-paying jobs. High earnings—and earnings that allow families to be self-sufficient—were the key criteria for the selection of workforce investment boards. “We’re very honored to be recognized for our best...

New reports explore green economy, help businesses green up

Four new reports on the “green economy” of Seattle-King County and the Puget Sound were released today by the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County. Outlook for Green Job Growth: Based on an employer survey and interviews conducted by the Business and Economic Development Center at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, this report gauges green job growth...

Map Your Career newspaper series reaches classrooms

The WDC’s Map Your Career series in the Seattle Times is reaching more than 800 classrooms of middle- and high-school students as a tool for exploring careers. The project gets the WDC’s career maps in six key sectors–health care, manufacturing, construction, IT, life sciences and maritime–into the hands of young people. Each Tuesday from Oct. 19 through Nov. 23, a...

WDC wins grant to boost health-care jobs with $11M over five years

Through a grant announced today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the WDC of Seattle-King County will receive more than $2.2 million a year for 5 years to provide job training in health care.  At least 970 people—economically disadvantaged adults and youth—will be trained and supported through a partnership of agencies that uses the most effective models and strategies of...

WDC a partner in new regional health-care training

The WDC is part of a health-care training project just funded with $4.8 million from a Community-Based Job Training Grant from the Department of Labor. The project—called Healthcare Education-to-Career Opportunities (HECO)—is headed by Everett Community College and will offer a range of training options including online courses. The role of the WDC and our local WorkSource system would relate...

SVI honors WDC for partnership

Marlena Sessions, CEO of the WDC, accepted a special recognition for the WDC from Seattle Vocational Institute at SVI’s 2010 commencement ceremony at Benaroya Hall on Monday night. SVI Trustee Donald Root said when presenting the award: “SVI greatly values its partnership with the WDC for providing training and education opportunities for youthful and adult members of the community and...