In accordance with Utah Code § 63C-10-103 (1)(g)(iii):
Statement of the Board’s Initiatives, Programs, and Economic Development Priorities Workforce Development The Department of Workforce Services (DWS) mission statement is “We strengthen Utah’s communities by supporting the economic stability and quality of our workforce.” For the past several years, Utah has been in a pattern where the state’s urban areas enjoy economic growth and prosperity that is significantly greater than the rural communities. However, because of that growth urban employers were facing a lack of a local, available, qualified workforce. Unfilled jobs were growing faster than people available to work. As a result of that challenge, last year the Department of Workforce Services, the Salt Lake Chamber, and Economic Development Corporation of Utah (EDCUtah) created a formal partnership called the Rural Workforce Network through an MOU unveiled at the 2019 Utah Rural Summit. This initiative’s primary goal was to bridge the plentiful jobs available in the urban areas to the qualified workforce living in rural Utah. Since that unveiling, both the Utah State University Rural Online Initiative and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development have joined as partners in this endeavor. We’ve seen the severe economic impacts of COVID-19 in our entire state and the rural communities, especially. Often in rural areas, one industry is the primary sector of employment, and when that industry suffers, the entire county suffers, which can make recovery difficult. We’ve discovered that the transition to telework opens diverse opportunities to the rural workforce. Now is our public and private sectors’ time to continue expanding telework options and realize that they are no longer bound by traditional geographic locations to find qualified candidates across the entire state. As businesses geographically diversify their workforce, it lends to a more stable continuity of operations if there are areas in the state that face tighter restrictions or staff who may not be available to work due to the pandemic. The work becomes more portable, and business operations can be routed to other areas and continue. This strategy of the Rural Workforce Network will help be an economic equalizer, lifting the workforce across urban and rural communities. Together; it will help bring relief to the housing challenges that are prevalent in both urban and rural areas in the state, and could also help flatten the seasonal unemployment rates that plagued rural Utah for many years. Therefore, the GRPB will support the Rural Workforce Network and leverage connections to both the private and public sectors to continue increasing remote employment opportunities across the state. In partnership with iMpact, Custom Fit, BEAR and Southeastern Utah Business and Technical Assistance and seven counties (Carbon, Daggett, Duchesne, Emery, Grand, San Juan, and Uintah) an EDA grant was utilized to offer ISO & AS9100 certifications needed by rural businesses to diversify in the aerospace/ defense industry. Eight companies have so far enrolled in the certification process. Therefore, the GRPB supports iMpact, Custom Fit, business development centers, and county organizations to utilize federal and state funding and training opportunities to develop and train the local workforce in various technical aspects to help diversify their economies. Finally, we must never forget our citizens underemployed or unemployed due to significant barriers such as intergenerational poverty, past criminal background, homelessness, English as a second language, drug dependency, or lack of education. Therefore, the GRPB supports the efforts of DWS to assist in developing career pathways through credential attainment with post-secondary education, ensuring needs are met through available community resources.
Statement of the Board’s Initiatives, Programs, and Economic Development Priorities 2020 Governor’s Rural Partnership Board Annual Report
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