Labor Market Intermediary Institutions
West and Southwest IAF organizations are pioneering workforce initiatives that bring working people out of poverty level jobs and into living wage careers. By building the political will for investment of public monies in long-term training, local organizations have successfully brought together employers, community college officials and community leaders to create long-term workforce development and education programs for actual jobs in high demand occupations.
Inspired by the success of the oldest of these labor market intermediaries, Project Quest in San Antonio, leaders have built an additional five projects across the West and Southwest: Capital IDEA in Austin, Texas; Project ARRIBA in El Paso, Texas; VIDA in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas; JobPath in Tucson, Arizona; and NOVA in Monroe, Louisiana.
Collectively, these institutions have trained and placed nearly 11,000 adults in living wage jobs which pay, on average, $40,000 annually plus benefits and a career path. This number is projected to grow dramatically as the West and Southwest IAF expands into Lubbock, Houston, and Dallas in Texas this year.
WORKFORCE PROJECT WEBSITES
Project Quest
Capital IDEA
Project ARRIBA
VIDA
JobPath
PRESS
Workforce Training of Parents Boost Children’s Aspirations
Austin American Statesman (2011)
Tucson Tech: $200,000 Grant to Help Train 50 Adults
Arizona Daily Star (2011)
VIDA Success Stories Multiply; Job-Training Organization Moves Forward
Brownsville Herald (2009)
Building a Career Where There Was Just a Dead End
Washington Post (2007)
“A Capital Idea Makes Employment Dreams Come True for Systems Analyst”
Statesman Jobs (2006)
Community Invests in Living Wage Idea
El Paso Times (2006)
RECENT STUDIES
Return on Investment from Capital IDEA: Research Brief
Full Report Here
Ray Marshall Center for the Study of Human Resources (2011)
Economic Impacts of the JobPath Program on Pima County
Applied Economics (2009)
Economic Impact of Project ARRIBA on El Paso, Texas
Institute for Policy and Economic Development (2007)
Project Quest: A Case Study of a Sectoral Employment Development Approach
Aspen Institute (2001)
Price of Persistence: How Non-Profit Community College Partnerships Manage and Blend Diverse Funding Streams
Capital IDEA: Workforce Strategies Initiative at the Aspen Institute (2011)
Beyond Graduation: Promoting Post-Program Engagement & Advancement
Capital IDEA: Aspen Institute (2009); On the Road to Success video (2010)
ADDITIONAL MATERIALS
Click here for further reading on workforce development strategies
Click here for presentation by Executive Director Ernesto Cortes at the Aspen Institute .
