These New Deal policies firmly established the federal government's commitment to minimizing hardships associated with unemployment and facilitating a worker's return to work.
The President's Community-Based Job Training Grants address the need for a partnership between the workforce system and the vocational education system, increase the capacity of community colleges to meet the demands of today's employers and recognize community colleges as an easily adaptable and viable means for talent development.
The grants provide schools the resources to hire faculty, and purchase equipment and facilities they needed to train and educate workers for jobs in the high-growth fields.
The jobs of today and tomorrow require individuals with postsecondary education and community colleges are the most flexible, affordable and accessible option for many Americans.
Instead, economies are defined regionally by a diverse group of industries, supported by factors such as infrastructure, investment and an availability of local talent.
[1] On February 1, 2006, U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao announced the WIRED Initiative, encompassing these ideals to better align workforce and economic development.
WIRED takes a critical step in providing individuals with the tools for success, businesses the human capital required for growth, and the American economy the fuel for continued strength.
[2] In February 2006, following a Solicitation for Grant Applications, the Employment & Training Administration (ETA) announced 13 regions that comprise the WIRED 1st Generation.
"[5] In this respect, the WIRED initiative as a whole incorporates a number of well-accepted economic development practices, while leaving specific application to each grantee region.
Renski points out that “the novel aspect of WIRED is simply that it is administered and funded by the U.S. federal government, who has had little involvement in regional economic development since the 1970s.”[7] Markusen and Glassmeier (2008) note that “In general, federal economic development programs place too much emphasis on physical infrastructure and not enough on human capital and ‘soft’ infrastructure, meaning organizational know-how and networking.”[8] Thus, it is the focus on regional growth that crosses traditional political and jurisdictional boundaries which makes WIRED a notable program in the conversation on effective economic development policy.