FCM Blog

FCM & NAWB Win International Davey Award

Workforce Investment Works Campaign Wins the Silver

The Workforce Investment Works (WIW) campaign was selected for the 2011 Davey Awards, judged annually by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA). With nearly 4,000 entries from across the U.S. and around the world, the Davey Awards honors the finest creative work from the best small firms, agencies and companies worldwide.

The IAVA is an invitation-only member-based organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media. Current membership represents a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms including: Conde Nast, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, HBO, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Victoria’s Secret, Wired, Yahoo! and many others.

The WIW campaign was developed in the fall of 2010 and launched in January 2011 to target policy makers across the country, and is a collaborative initiative  between Full Capacity Marketing, Inc. (FCM) and NAWB. The storytelling website was designed to help America understand the value proposition of WIA funded programs and services; to generate support of WIA funding through social media; and to build the capacity of the workforce investment system stakeholders to utilize consistent messages with their local elected officials and the news media to bring awareness around the repercussions of cutting WIA funding.

The WIW campaign was awarded the Davey in the integrated campaign category. If you haven’t seen the site, go to www.WorkforceInvestmentWorks.com.

Click here to read the full press release.

FCM Partners in National Workforce Economic Impact Model

A major contributing factor in the struggle to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) has been the system’s lack of ability to collectively report fully-vetted benefit-cost assessment and impact data. The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) conducted a 2011 survey in which the top challenge reported by workforce investment boards (WIBs) across the country was demonstrating success/investment feasibility to funders and elected officials (55%). Only 58% of WIBs actually measure investment effectiveness or impact analysis on WIA and/or non-WIA funded activities.

Herein lies one of the critical challenges facing the system in reauthorization of WIA—the system’s lack of ability to report fully vetted benefit-cost assessment and impact data collectively to demonstrate the system’s effectiveness. Just one published report showcasing a poorly designed methodology can destroy the credibility of the entire system.

Full Capacity Marketing, Inc. (FCM) has joined in a collaborative partnership with the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB), and EMSI to undertake a process to design an economic impact scorecard model that examines the economic impact and investment effectiveness of the WIBs’ WIA-funded jobseeker programs, as well as the WIBs’ employer-based services. The NAWB has contracted with three of the nation’s top economists to fully vet the model. Additionally, FCM is developing the communication framework to help WIBs share the results of study. The team of project partners shares the core components required for replication of the study process, including data collection, model development, analysis, and communication of results.

The pilot will be completed in early January, and the team is scheduled to present the findings at the NAWB Annual Forum in March 2012. Read the full press release at http://www.fullcapacitymarketing.com/pressroom.shtml

Chambers & Business Organizations Support WIA Reauthorization: Innovations in Legislative Outreach

The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) represents business-led Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) that coordinate and leverage workforce strategies with education and economic development stakeholders within their local communities, to ensure that state and local workforce development and job training programs meet the needs of businesses. This system is funded through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), which authorizes over 550 WIBs to oversee and coordinate services through a network of 3,000 One-Stop Career Centers.

Reauthorization of WIA has had its share of critics, so NAWB has taken several steps to educate Congress that the workforce system is an important one for businesses across the country.  The latest undertaking was led by NAWB Board Chair Laurie Moran who serves as the chief executive officer for the Danville Virginia Chamber of Commerce.  Ms. Moran coordinated a comprehensive outreach strategy with the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to engage chamber and business organization support for WIA reauthorization.

Moran said, “The letter of support has been signed by more than 70 chambers and regional business organizations with support growing daily. As the chair of my local WIB, I can tell you that WIA funds and programs are critical to my community and regional economy.”

Chambers of Commerce and regional business organizations across America representing over 50,000 businesses sent a clear message to Congress through a letter of support for WIA reauthorization. The letter of support was sent to the Democratic and Republican leadership of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee which is currently considering reauthorization.

“We want to make sure that our Senators understand that reauthorizing WIA and investing in America’s workers is a key priority for the business community,” said Gary Toebben, president & chief executive officer of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.  “Businesses want to expand and create 21^st century jobs, but we can’t do that if we don’t have a workforce with the skills and training needed to fill them.”

This outreach strategy to elected officials can be modeled by other organizations across the country who want to build strong support for its cause to elected officials. The components include a) strong leadership; b) an organized call to action with a clear value proposition; c) a web-based tool to garner support; d) news and social media strategies; and e) a clearly defined timeline.

To view or share the support letter and outreach tools, go to http://www.workforceinvestmentworks.com/wia_reauthorization_support.asp