The Regional Partnership Local Area functions with the advice and counsel of a Workforce Development Board (WDB) that plans the Workforce Investment Act activities.

A majority (fifty-one percent) of the members of the Local Board must be representatives of businesses in the Local Area. Members representing business must be individuals who are owners, chief executive officers, chief operating officers, or other individuals with optimum policymaking or hiring authority. The remaining forty-nine percent of the members represent Department of Social Services, Department of Community Colleges, Vocational Rehabilitation, Employment Security Commission, Economic Development, Local School Systems, Community Based Organizations and Organized Labor.

The Chair of the Local Board is always from the private sector.

Role of a Board

WIA specifies that the Local Board is responsible for:

1. Developing the Five Year Strategic Plan, conducting oversight of the One-Stop System, youth activities and employment and training activities;

2. Selecting One-Stop operators with the agreement of the chief elected official;

3. Selecting eligible youth service providers based on the recommendation of the Youth Council and identifying eligible providers of adult and dislocated worker intensive services and training services, and maintaining a list of eligible providers with performance and cost information;

4. Developing a budget for the purpose of carrying out the duties of the Local Board, subject to the approval of the chief elected official;

5. Negotiating and reaching agreement on local performance measures with the chief elected official and the Governor;

6. Assisting the Governor in developing the statewide employment statistics system under the Wagner-Peyser Act;

7. Coordinating workforce investment activities with economic development strategies and developing employer linkages; and

8. Promoting private sector involvement in the statewide workforce investment system through effective connecting, brokering, and coaching activities through intermediaries such as the One-Stop operator in the Local Area or through other organizations, to assist employers in meeting hiring needs.

(a) The Local Board in cooperation with the chief elected official appoints a Youth Council as a subgroup of the Local Board, which is responsible for the coordination and planned activities of eligible youth.