Forward Janesville - TheReport - Fall 2017

FALL 2017 • 9 JUNIOR ACHIEVEMENT Forward Janesville has been a long-time partner of Junior Achievement of Rock County, which places business community volunteers in the classroom to share their expertise by teaching classes on financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship. Last year, Junior Achievement served 180 K-12 classrooms in Rock County, reaching over 3,600 students in the process. MANUFACTURING DAY Blackhawk Technical College (BTC) partnered with local school districts, economic development leaders like Forward Janesville and manufacturing businesses to launch a Greater Rock County Manufacturing Day on October 6. The Day’s objective was simple: to create more interest in manufacturing as a career choice and help fill local employers’ talent pipeline. This event highlighted 27 employers in Rock and Green Counties. Over 500 students from seven area school districts participated in the event, which provided a structured, out-of-classroom experience. Participating employers showcased their company’s culture, innovation, technology, and the diversity of existing and future jobs and careers. INDUSTRY DAY The School District of Janesville is dedicated to exposing students to careers that match their interests and wants all students to graduate from high school ready for college, career and life. To that end, they partnered with area companies to bring career awareness and exposure to all eighth-grade students on October 24 through on-site experiences at dozens of Janesville businesses. School district officials used each student’s career interests to develop his or her Industry Day itinerary. Industry Day was expanded after a successful inaugural event in May featuring student visits to Prent Corporation, Grainger, SSI and Blackhawk Technical College’s Advanced Manufacturing Center. BUSINESS / EDUCATION CONNECTIONS EVENT Forward Janesville joined the Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce, Beloit College and a host of others in organizing the first annual Business/Education Connections Event on September 13. The event was attended by over 140 educators, businesspeople and community leaders. It featured a keynote address from Jason Tyszko, the Executive Director of the Center for Education & Workforce at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who encouraged businesses to tackle their workforce challenges by using a supply chain model. The event also had a high-level, countywide summary of proposed and in-progress investments in education, both in terms of brick-and-mortar and programming. The event concluded with break-out sessions, where attendees received a briefing on specific workforce engagement activities, such as mentoring, internships/externships and how to access training resources from local educational partners. INSPIRE ROCK COUNTY Inspire Rock County is a web-based career preparation and readiness platform that helps students find their strengths, choose a career and connect with area professionals who can provide career guidance. Forward Janesville has been involved with Inspire Rock County since its inception four years ago, and we are pleased to see the program grow each year. The program recently announced some exciting news, as Inspire Rock County and Inspire Madison Region have integrated their databases. This partnership means that Inspire Rock County users will have access to an additional 477 companies, 539 career coaches and 2,419 work-based learning activities from the Madison region. CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION (CTE) INCENTIVE GRANT PROGRAM During the recent state legislative session, Forward Janesville supported legislation to significantly enhance Wisconsin’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) Incentive Grant Program. Under current law, the program provides incentive grants to school districts that offer educational programs in industries and occupations with workforce shortages. School districts are eligible for grants of up to $1,000 for each pupil in the district earning an approved industry-recognized certification. The School Districts of Beloit, Janesville and Milton all utilize the CTE Incentive Grant Program. The program is capped at $3 million per year; thanks to our efforts, the state legislature increased funding for WI CTE Incentive Grant Program by $1 million. This important legislation will strengthen the state’s support for technical education in high schools and help ensure that students are graduating with the skills employers need. JOBSINROCKCOUNTY.COM Forward Janesville is a partner and promoter of JobsInRockCounty.com, the area’s one-stop employment and information portal. The site provides employers with an easy-to-use online posting interface that has social media and other job board integration features. Registration is free, and companies that are using the site are reaching thousands of job seekers every month.