• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Nevada Business Magazine

The Decision Maker's Magazine

Subscribe Now!

  • Subscriptions
    • Print
    • Mobile App
    • Email
    • Nevada News & PR Wire
  • Features
    • New This Month
    • View Issues
    • Cover Stories
    • Feature Stories
    • Industry Focus
    • Building Nevada
    • Special Reports
    • Meet the Decision Maker
    • Press Release Wire
    • Nevada Industries
  • Departments
    • A Matter of Opinion
    • Around the State
    • Business Indicators
    • Commentary
    • Commercial RE Report
    • Crossfire
    • Expert Advice
    • Face to Face
    • Free Market Watch
    • Inside Politics
    • Power of Attorney
    • Profit & Loss
    • Speaking for Nevada
    • Tech.knowledge.me
    • The Last Word
    • Vital Signs
  • Planning Calendar
  • Advertising
    • Advertising Info
    • Advertising Staff
    • Submission Requirements
    • Online Advertising
  • Events
    • NBM Events
  • About
    • About the Magazine
    • Contact the Staff
  • Connect
    • Business Directory
    • Press Release Wire
    • Business Calendar
    • Submit Listing
    • Post Press Release
    • Add Your Event
    • Sign Up
    • Log In
You are here: Home / Features / Special Reports / Ready to Work

Ready to WorkNevada Industry Excellence and an Opportunity-Driven Workforce

February 1, 2019 By Jennifer Rachel Baumer Leave a Comment

The mission of Nevada Industry Excellence is to help companies improve, grow and learn by implementing customized training programs.

Education, collaboration and an educated workforce together describe the system of agencies and organizations working to build a pipeline from educated workers to the employers representing high demand jobs in Nevada.

One such agency is Nevada Industry Excellence (NVIE). The industrial outreach program of the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), NVIE is administered by University of Nevada. When Dr. Thom Reilly was appointed Chancellor of Nevada System of Higher Education in 2017, he began working with the region’s legislators, community and institutions to adopt a core strategic focus for NSHE.

That focus is made up of five simple goals: addressing access to higher education, addressing student success, closing the achievement gap and ensuring all students graduate from the system, addressing workforce needs and specifically identifying the top 10 high demand jobs in Nevada.

Looking at the top 10 jobs that were identified, the board addressed how NSHE could work to ensure there were enough students heading for the workforce, and the type of workforce Nevada industry needed.

In part that strategy involved creating an advisory committee of all the major economic development and workforce agencies along with the private sector to help NSHE respond as a system to workforce needs.

Part of that effort involved increasing communications between the business community and individual NSHE institutions. From there, the mission became threefold.

The first is to create either more degrees or new degrees to respond to the current business climate and predict what the future will be and what its workforce will need. The second is to look at content as degrees are created to make certain the right content is included for industry needs. Finally, NSHE wants to determine how to deliver that content.

“We need to move away from only addressing a very traditional approach to education to offering more online degrees, to more hybrid, to more block programming classes in the community,” said Reilly. “That’s all part of the dialog we created with industry.”

In responding to workforce needs, NSHE established strategic partnerships like the one with labor that provides apprenticeships and internships for students. Another, with the K-12 system, centers around three areas, including workforce issues and dual enrollment.

“The focus we’re going to have with this new partnership is looking at dual enrollment for workforce,” said Reilly. “A large percentage of young people in K-12 don’t go on to a four year institution and, while not everybody needs a four year degree, everybody needs some type of post-secondary education whether that be a certificate or a two year degree, if they’re going to be competitive in the skill-based job market.”

Preparing pathways for students from education to workforce includes expanding opportunities for education and preparation for in-demand jobs in their own backyards. One component of that initiative, dual enrollment, allows students to take courses and earn college credit in high school.

“Part of that initiative is actually developing programs to respond to workforce needs,” said Reilly. “For example, HVAC is one of the top 10 high demand jobs identified by the Governor’s office. We cannot produce enough certified HVAC clinicians. We have a program at Western High School to enable students in two years to get their HVAC certificate and graduate from high school certified in HVAC and making $60,000 a year in a profession we can’t produce enough of.”

“If we’re going to be successful in preparing young people for either higher education or for workforce issues, the conversation needs to happen a lot earlier than high school,” said Reilly.

Russell Mickelson agreed. The CEO of STEM 101, a national non-profit with a mission to connect business, education and workforce, Mickelson said when you work with kids in public education and want to provide the opportunity to pursue a career they’re interested in, that needs to happen in middle school. By waiting until high school they might miss taking courses they need to have already completed.

STEM started with a program called Corporate Connections that took theoretical learning and made it hands-on so students who find a passion can pursue it. STEM develops workforce-targeted curriculum by finding workforce talent gaps and reverse engineering solutions by training today’s student to become tomorrow’s workforce. When the program caught on for kids, employers requested it for adults.

“We work with companies to essentially decode competencies that are directly connected to the talent gaps they have, meaning the careers that they’re needing to build pipelines for,” said Mickelson. “We reverse engineer that and build student experiences that showcase what that world is all about and give them a vision for how they can get there.”

Real World, Real Skills

In January NSHE and Clark County School District (CCSD) announced a partnership that would both look at workforce issues and at dual credit programs for students.

“These are two big components of where we’re going in the near future,” said Jesus Jara, CCSD superintendent. “We need to make sure our kids are ready for college, walking in and really eliminating remediation and really folding into dual credit programs here.”

Part of the school district initiatives include building apprenticeship programs with labor to create a skilled workforce for in demand jobs like construction, or building Nevada’s first wave of cyber security engineers.

“This initiative that I’m signing with our higher education partner is really a targeted approach where there’s equal collaboration between higher education and K-12 where it becomes really a K-20 partnership,” said Jara.

Change is the Only Constant

The partnering of CCSD and NSHE is only one of many collaborations of educational, economic and employment entities coming together to address workforce issues and industry demands for a trained, educated workforce.

Before the initiatives like dual enrollment and institutions such as the Office of Workforce Innovation for a New Nevada (OWINN) formed, Nevada’s silo mentality meant agencies worked alone for the same desired results – filling the needs of Nevada’s new and existing businesses with a trained and talented labor pool. Efforts were duplicated and programs weren’t easy to access because they weren’t easily found.

“What we’re finding now is a much more positive attitude to working together throughout the state of Nevada, which we’ve been pushing for years,” said Terry Culp, deputy director, Nevada Industry Excellence. “Organizations are now more interested in collaborating and coming out of their silos. They realize there’s a tremendous synergy and strength when we all work together to achieve the same goal, which is ultimately to improve the economy throughout the state of Nevada, help companies become more successful and help develop a real strong workforce to make that happen.”

The mission of Nevada Industry Excellence is to help companies improve (increasing productivity, reducing costs, reducing energy expenditures), grow (find new markets, create new products) and learn by implementing customized training programs. By collaborating with new partners, NVIE can help Nevada companies be more successful and meet workforce needs.

NVIE also partners with Nevada Department of Business and Industry on a variety of initiatives like workshops and events, and with DETR and rolling out Silver State Works (a financial incentives program) and the local workforce development boards.

For Workforce Connections, Southern Nevada’s local workforce development board, partnerships and collaborations lead to a one-stop-shop delivery system for workers and employers.

“The initiative [for collaboration between agencies for workforce readiness] was really highlighted when the federal law was signed in 2014, the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA),” said Jaime Cruz, executive director, Workforce Connections. “Every state was given two years to make the shift but things in government are not always expeditious and don’t happen as quickly as you want. It’s been a slow transition across the nation.”

In 2017 the momentum began to change to the positive due in part to the participation of public libraries in four districts in Southern Nevada. The eight libraries host one-stop career centers, freeing up agencies from having to fund those locations.

WIOA identifies 17 different funding streams that make up workforce or employment training services delivered by the one-stop delivery system. Only one of those streams is administered directly by Workforce Connections, so making sure all the other funding streams are present and working side by side is a measure of success, said Cruz. The funding streams come through departments like DETR.

“When you build a vision of the legislation and convene a taxpayer funded public workforce development system, then the results can be really great. The impact for people is magnified exponentially because you have multiple funding streams, multiple sources of help engaged at the same time in a coordinated way in helping more people up the career ladder.”

All Together

Collaboration in creation of Nevada’s workforce readiness initiatives involves multiple levels of engagement, led by various state offices including OWINN which addresses workforce needs by working with labor-market data and creating career pathways leading to industry-recognized credentials.

“It’s important that not everyone is working in different silos, with different various priorities. [It’s important] that we align our goals, systems and strategies together so we can help the vision and priorities for workforce development for the State of Nevada. [This will] ensure all agencies are working toward similar goals and alignment,” said Manny Lamarre, director, OWINN.

Two more workforce programs under GOED are LEAP and WINN. LEAP – Learn and Earn Advanced Pathway – is a fully integrated career pathway framework from high school right through to the university system.

“We basically formed a collaboration with all the players that needed to be involved. That meant the Department of Education, the school systems, the community colleges, support organizations such as NVIE were actually at the table from the beginning and put together a business framework structure,” said Karsten Heise, director of strategic programs, GOED.

WINN, Workforce Innovation for the New Nevada, is a workforce development training program designed to give businesses the trained employees they need.

“It’s important to understand they’re not in any way two different competing programs,” said Heise. WINN acts as a funding mechanism for LEAP administered by GOED in coordination with NSHE, Nevada Department of Education, OWINN and DETR.

“Collaboration is key,” Heise added. “GOED took the leadership, but without contribution of those partners, community colleges and the school districts to support partners like NVIE, this wouldn’t work. It’s essential.”

One more strategic partner in Nevada’s ready workforce initiative is DETR. WIOA pushed for collaboration between agencies and they’re still working together, each with its own niche. DETR’s niche as a job bank matching employees and employers dates back to the Depression.

“I’m much more comfortable today where things are at and that’s not because we’re in recovery and it’s an employees’ market right now in many industries,” said Don Soderberg, deputy director, DETR. “It’s because we’re working together and we’re communicating and that’s allowing DETR to do better partnerships, spend our money more wisely and focus on the hard spots in the community where although their numbers are better, they’re not taking advantage of this recovery as much as other groups or Nevadans as a whole.”

He added, “What Chancellor Reilly has done is first and foremost, get everybody together and ask everybody in workforce and organized labor how we can do better. We have these meetings that are great freeform and full of ideas, and since you’re there with somebody else who you might not talk to on a daily basis, you’re getting an idea for how you can work with them.”

That’s important, because all the training money in the world doesn’t matter if the program doesn’t train employees effectively and efficiently. “And it has to be in jobs that are there, Governor Sandoval once told me,” Soderberg said. “We want people to have jobs that have legs. What he meant was we want to give somebody a career that’s going to last, not just a job so we see them on the unemployment side of the house 18 months from now.”

“Workforce development starts when we send someone to kindergarten,” said Cruz. “You can argue it begins before that, with pre-kindergarten education, that workforce development starts with what a child sees in the home. So yes, we work closely with higher education, there’s somebody from NSHE who sits on our board and the law provides for a seat on our local boards so we’re all steering in the same direction.”

“This board looks like a triangle,” Cruz said. “It’s education, workforce development and economic development. When the three come together, that’s how you solve the equation of a ready workforce.”

Filed Under: Special Reports Tagged With: Clark County School District (CCSD), Don Soderberg, Dr. Thom Reilly, Jaime Cruz, Jesus Jara, Manny Lamarre, Nevada Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation (DETR), Nevada Industry Excellence (NVIE), Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE), Office of Workforce Innovation for a New Nevada (OWINN), Russell Mickelson, STEM 101, Terry Culp, University of Nevada, Workforce Connections

Paul Krakovitz: Intermountain Healthcare

Edward Vance: EV&A Architects

Scott Arkills: Silver State Schools Credit Union

Terry Shirey: Nevada State Bank

Online Advertorials

Online Advertorials

SNWA’s Infrastructure InvestmentsHelp Secure Access to Water Supply

Bank of NevadaFunding Will Provide Nevada Students With Financial Literacy Education

Infrastructure InvestmentsAssure Our Community’s Water Future

Roseman’s College of MedicineAddressing the Physician Workforce Shortage

Advertise With Us

Advertise With Us. more details ►

Primary Sidebar

Get important updates from Nevada Business Magazine, directly to your inbox.
Subscribe

Wild at HeartEconomic Development in Rural Nevada

Industry FocusBankers

Residential NevadaMarket Shifts

Southern Nevada CCIMPassing the Torch to the Next Generation of Professionals

Nevada News & PR Wire

  • CAMCO Nevada Promotes Bree McRae to Regional Director of its Portfolio Division

  • CSN Launches Six New Programs

  • Las Vegas Area Home Prices Dip for Second Straight Month

  • Faith Lutheran Begins 2022-23 Academic Year with New Principal

  • Grand Sierra Resort and Casino Honors a Selfless Medical Assistant as the Most Recent “Grand Hero”

  • Downtown Reno Partnership Announces New Marketing Manager and Office Manager

  • Kamer Zucker Abbott Elevates Kaitlin Paxton to Partner

  • KPS3 Hires Chelsea Bosco as Designer

  • Lipson Neilson’s Joseph Garin and Megan Thongkham Named 2022 Mountain States Super Lawyers

  • Open Enrollment for Upcoming Miss Silver State Pageant

  • Move 4 Less Recognizes Dream Home Art Contest Youth Winners with Party and Prizes

  • LumiZen Wellness Debuts Premier CBD Products for People and Pets Alike

  • Celebrate International Coworking Day at The Coop and Test Drive the Coworking Experience for Free!

  • aha! Reports Exceptional Operating Performance for July 2022

  • ioneer Signs Binding Lithium Offtake Agreement with Prime Planet Energy & Solutions

  • The Problem Solver Show to Interview Man Who Discovered Third Body in Lake Mead

  • Aug. 18 NAIOP Southern Nevada Breakfast Presents “The Future of the Las Vegas Strip Is Here”

  • Pilots Revealed for 2022 STIHL National Championship Air Races

  • Preparing for End of Life Workshop

  • Las Vegas Attorney Offers Free Workshop on Protecting Children’s Inheritance and More

  • CVMC Welcomes Lisa McKinney, APRN to Ironwood Primary Care

  • Realtor Nate Strager Releases Weekly Market Update as Part of His Information Campaign

  • Entertainment and Supper Club Summer Schedule at the Stirling Club Continues to Sizzle

  • Community Leader Don Snyder Elected Chairman of the United Way of Southern Nevada Board

  • Lexicon Bank Sponsors Scleroderma Sprint Event, Fueling Efforts For A Cure

  • Optum Care Cancer Care Adds a New Physician

  • Southwest Medical Adds Three New Healthcare Providers

  • International Celebrity Vocal Coach Romeo Johnson Offers Vocal Lessons To Clark County Residents

  • Team From The Problem Solver Show to Sponsor Free Ice Cream and T Shirt Give Away For Kids

  • Las Vegas Orthopedic Surgeon Offers New Treatment For Limb Lengthening

  • TSK Celebrates O’Brien Middle School Redesign Ribbon Cutting in Partnership With Cumming Group

  • Godspeed Capital-backed Huckabee Architects Invests in TSK Architects

  • Dunkin’ Presents $4,000 to Cure 4 The Kids Foundation From Funds Raised on Iced Coffee Day

  • Nevada Bankers Association Announces 2022-23 Board of Directors

  • Annie Wagner of KPS3 Earns Certificate in Principles of Public Relations

  • NAR Tabs Nevada REALTORS®­ Leaders to Serve in National Leadership Roles

  • Kamer Zucker Abbott Attorneys Selected to the 2022 Mountain States Super Lawyers® List

  • Kamer Zucker Abbott’s Next Webinar: Balancing Employee vs. Employer Rights in Divisive Times

  • Henderson Chamber of Commerce Announces 2022 Board of Directors Additions

  • De Castroverde Law Group and Findlay Subaru of Las Vegas Award $10,000 College Scholarship to Allison Hill

  • Karma and Luck Supports Ukraine Through Donation to Doctors Without Borders

  • Support Local Students and Teachers During the Greater Schools Supplies Drive

  • KPS3 Welcomes Lauren Davis to Team

  • Las Vegas-Based Neteffect Named a Top Firm by Clutch

  • Bank of Nevada Welcomes Michael Pizzi as Managing Director of Commercial Banking

  • Following Nevada Osha’s Adoption of Heat Guidelines, There Are Free Resources for Employers to Protect Employees From Heat-Related Illness and Injuries

  • aha! Launches 50% Off End of Summer Super Sale – Book Now!

  • Evolution of Healthcare with RESET IV

  • Mark Wiley Group Announces Buck Hujabre as New President of Commercial Division

  • Jim Seebock Announces Run for Henderson City Council Seat Ward One

  • WestCor Announces New Director of Marketing and Business Development

  • Home At Last™ by Nevada Rural Housing Launches New 4% Advantage Down Payment Assistance Option

  • Tilt-up construction is complete at Mountain West Industrial Park

  • Grow with Google Provides Nevada Small Businesses With Tools to Reach Customers in Changing Economy

  • Facebook Launches New “Feeds” Tab Connecting Users More Than Ever

  • Trosper Public Relations Announces New Hire in Northern Nevada

  • Emerald Island and Rainbow Club Casinos Partner With Local Woman-Owned Spirits Company to Offer ‘Super Premium Well’ Vodka

  • Greater Nevada Mortgage Provides Down Payment Assistance for Eligible First-Time Homebuyers

  • Education Non-Profit CORE Names Jordan Ashley Berkowitz as Development Director

  • ioneer Signs Binding Lithium Offtake Agreement with Ford

  • Two attorneys from De Castroverde Law Group honored as 2022 Mountain States Super Lawyers Rising Stars®

  • Grow With Google Provides Nevada Small Businesses With Tools to Reach Customers in Changing Economy

  • The NCJFCJ Recognizes the Honorable Linda Marie Bell As the 2022 Impact of the Year Recipient at Annual Justice Innovation Awards

  • Broadbent & Associates, Inc. Donates to Local Youth Hockey Team

  • Goodwill® of Southern Nevada Spreads Mid-Year Cheer with Second Annual ‘Christmas in July’ Event

  • CALVPresenting Sept. 21 Educational Symposium for Real Estate Pros Featuring Cyber Security Expert Frank Abagnale of “Catch Me if You Can” Fame

  • Goodwill® of Southern Nevada Promotes from Within

  • STIHL National Championship Air Races Participating in “A Community Thrives” Fundraising Initiative

  • Northcap Commercial Arranges Sale of Mark & Daisy Apartments for $3,800,000

  • MDX Labs Expands Operations to Include Saturdays, in Response to Clark County’s Elevated Level of COVID-19

  • Downtown Reno Partnership Announces Key Performance Indicators for Fiscal Year 2021-2022

  • Meruelo Family Scholarship Awards $12,500 to Children of Grand Sierra Resort Team Members

  • aha! Inaugurates Nonstop Flights From Reno-Tahoe to Santa Rosa

  • Helix Electric Raises Over $24,000 to Benefit Reno Charities

  • 20 Recent CCSD Grads Offered Apprenticeships at Tesla

  • REMSA Health announces promotion of four leaders within the organization

  • TEDx Speaker at NCET Biz Bite Luncheon in Reno

  • The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges 85th Annual Conference Brings Participants to Northern Nevada From Across the Nation

  • Northcap Commercial Arranges Sale of 239 W. New York Ave Apartments for $1,015,000

  • LVR Announces Newly Elected Officers and Board Members for 2023

  • JA Worldwide Nominated for 2022 Nobel Peace Prize — Junior Achievement of Southern Nevada Celebrates Prestigious Honor —

  • aha! announces additional flying from Ontario, California to Reno-Tahoe for “Burners”

  • Optum Care Anesthesia adds two new health care providers

  • American Bar Association Appoints Lipson Neilson Shareholder Sandra D. Glazier as a Member of the Commission on Law and Aging

  • CALV President Angelina Scarcelli earns NAR leadership appointment

  • Pacific West Injury Law’s Attorney Visits Children At Sunrise Hospital As Mascot Blue Bear

  • SOUL FULL Sundays At The INDUSTRIAL

  • Serial Horse Killer Reward Goes To $10,000

  • Nevada Women’s Fund Receives $100,000 Award from SilverSummit HealthPlan

  • SILVERSUMMIT HEALTHPLAN AND COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTERS EXPAND PARTNERSHIP TO IMPROVE MEMBER ACCESS TO CARE

  • Yolanda Carapia of De Castroverde Law Group is awarded Nevada Justice Association Rising Star Award

  • Project 150 benefits from Game Show Boot Camp

  • Sip For Survivors – New SafeNest Coffee

  • The Downtown Vegas Alliance Elects 2022-2023 Officers and Board Members

  • July 21 NAIOP Southern Nevada breakfast presents “The Changing LANDscape: A Discussion on Land in Southern Nevada”

  • Real Estate Expert Nate Strager provides “Hope for Homeownership” With His New Information Campaign Regarding Housing Assistance Programs

  • WestCor CEO Recognized by Construction Financial Management Association

  • Nonprofit Hosting Education Drive to Support Youth Experiencing Homelessness Reach Their Educational Goals

  • FEA Consulting Engineers Welcomes New Team Members

  • Full Tilt Logistics Announces Massive Expansion of Nationwide Shipping, Warehousing and Distribution Business



 
Submit Your News & PR | Subscribe
Submit Your News & PR

Business Connection

Business Connection Portal

Log In Sign Up

Business Connection Portal

Log In Sign Up

Nevada Business Calendar

  • Kamer Zucker Abbott Webinar on Crossing the Line? Balancing Employee vs. Employer Rights in Divisive Times
    August 18, 2022 10:00 am

    More details...
  • Special Olympics Nevada Bowl for the Gold
    August 20, 2022 11:00 am

    Location: 1301 W Sunset Rd, Henderson, NV 89014, USA

    More details...
View Full Calendar ►

Nevada Business Directory

Featured Businesses
Find a Nevada-Based Business Submit Your Business Subscribe to the Nevada News & PR Wire

Nevada Industries

Architects & Engineers
Arts & Culture
Banking
Commercial Real Estate
Construction
Credit Unions
Economic Development
Education
Financial Management
Healthcare
Human Resources
Insurance
Law
Manufacturing
Marketing
Media
Mining
Philanthropy
Residential Real Estate
Rural Nevada
Sports
Tax Planning and Accounting
Technology
Telecom
Tourism
Transportation
Utilities

Footer

Subscriptions

  • Print Subscription
  • Mobile App
  • E-mail Subscription

Editorial

  • Features
  • Departments
  • Events

Advertising

  • Advertise
  • Submission Requirements

Connect

  • Contact
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Copyright © 2022, Business Link LLC dba Nevada Business Magazine and Nevada Business Journal. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions
Nevada Web Design services by Nevada Central Media using Genesis Framework by StudioPress

    *Your Name

    *Your Email

    Phone Number

    Company

    *Subject

    *Your Message

      *Your Name

      *Your Email

      Phone Number

      Company

      *Subject

      *Your Message

        *Your Name

        *Your Email

        Phone Number

        Company

        *Subject

        *Your Message

          *Your Name

          *Your Email

          Phone Number

          Company

          *Subject

          *Your Message

            *Your Name

            *Your Email

            Phone Number

            Company

            *Subject

            *Your Message

              *Your Name

              *Your Email

              Phone Number

              Company

              *Subject

              *Your Message

                *Your Name

                *Your Email

                Phone Number

                Company

                *Subject

                *Your Message

                  *Your Name

                  *Your Email

                  Phone Number

                  Company

                  *Subject

                  *Your Message

                    *Your Name

                    *Your Email

                    Phone Number

                    Company

                    *Subject

                    *Your Message