WIRED Watch 2.24.09

In this Edition:

ReEmployment – The new discussion.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Doesn't Take a Vacation in a Recession

Do You Know an Indiana Company to Watch? 

WIRED Updates and Latest Happenings 

Upcoming Events:

March 11, 10am - 12pm - WorkOne West Central Lafayette Grand Opening & Ribbon Cutting ceremony, Lafayette IN

March 13, 3pm - 5pm - White County Instructional Center Dedication ceremony, Monticello IN

March 25 (details to follow) - Community Based Strategies for ReEmployment  & Economic Re-engagement

ReEmployment - The new discussion.

Now more than ever before, Americans are becoming aware of the challenges facing our economy: global competition, changes in technology, economic shifts and recovery, unemployment and workforce patterns.

Ways to Re-Design, Re-Energize, and Re-Focus our traditional ReEmployment system was the focus of the ReEmployment Works Summit held in Baltimore in late January (http://reemploymentworks.workforce3one.org).    Their goals were:
    

       To address today’s crucial workforce system challenges

       To improve and remove barriers across programs and across state-to-local lines  

       To re-focus on currently unemployed workers seeking new jobs and occupations

       To connect the unemployed to high growth and in-demand occupations and industries

       To enhance the reemployment functions of the workforce system through a cluster and/or industry-based approach.

Ed Morrison presented at the Summit. His PowerPoint on Reemployment Pathways can be linked hereand the White Paper can be found here.

                                                                 

Purdue Extension will be hosting workshops across the state on March 25th. Ed and Scott will provide some initial information about the model via 2-way video and then attendees will participate in facilitated sessions to develop their own strategies. People are encouraged to attend if they are interested in developing community-based strategies for re-employment and economic re-engagement. You can read more at this link.

CareerOneStop (www.CareerOneStop.org) provides national, state and local career, labor market, and workforce information using online tools, videos, and maps to a range of local services.  Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, it provides resources and tools for job seekers, students, businesses, and career professionals.

Worth linking to is a great list of presentations from the Re-employment summit available for download at Steal These. 

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Doesn't Take a Vacation in a Recession

Venture Capitalist David Hornik of VentureBlog offers some encouraging words about entrepreneurship and innovation in the midst of a recession. He says, "...I remain excited about the companies that will be started in 2009. There will be great companies started during this economic crisis. Some of them will be born out of the crisis itself. Others will simply be born during the crisis...And I am certainly hoping to fund them. You can read the entire post here.

In December the Wall Street Journal predicted that entrepreneurship will "take off" during the recession as a direct result of the massive layoffs. The article states, "Layoffs at employers big and small are expected to continue into the first couple of quarters of 2009 — the millions of newly (and not so newly) unemployed will be scrambling to start their own businesses. Attendance is already way up at many entrepreneurship fairs. But getting external funding to start a new business will be the hard part." You can read this entire article here.

Do You Know A Company to Watch?
The 2009 Indiana Companies to Watch awards program honors second-stage companies headquartered in the state of Indiana. These companies demonstrate high performance in the marketplace or exhibit innovative products or processes. The program seeks businesses from all industries and all regions of the state. Nominations are being accepted February 16th through March 27, 2009. An awards ceremony will be held August 27, 2009 at the Indiana Roof Ballroom, Indianapolis, IN. 

For information, eligibility or to fill out a nomination, visit Indiana.CompaniesToWatch.org.

 Your Nomination Matters.  A company can win an "Indiana Company to Watch" award because of you! 

 WIRED Update and Latest Happenings

The most recent Quarterly report sent to the Department of Labor confirmed what we in North Central Indiana knew all along:
NCI WIRED is one of the leading WIRED regions in the nation.
See our story so far at this website: http://www.slideshare.net/phosea/nci-wired-our-story
For any and all details, the reports are posted here.

Note: Mark Smith fulfilled his role as Project Administrator, successfully completing the original grant timeframe.  Now that we are in the one year extension period, we will maintain our headquarters in Kokomo with Scott, Ed and Peggy continuing to work for the benefit of our region with ongoing projects, new ideas to explore and ways to keep the momentum going.

February 24, 2008

Corporate Sponsor:






Partners:

    



 

 

IndianaWIRED -
Workforce Innovations in Regional Economic Development -- is a three year, $15 million initiative that combines the resources of 14 north central Indiana counties. 

The IndianaWIRED counties include:  Benton, Carroll, Cass, Clinton, Fountain, Fulton, Howard, Miami, Montgomery, Tippecanoe, Tipton, Wabash, Warren and White.

IndianaWIRED is investing in new ways to integrate education, workforce development and economic development.

Activities fall into four areas:

• Creating Globally Competitive Industries
• Building an Entrepreneurship Super-Region
• Developing a Workforce with 21st Century Skills
• Weaving Supportive Civic Networks

To learn more:  Contact Peggy Hosea at the IndianaWIRED office (765-236-0955) or visit the Web site:  www.indiana-wired.net


“This product was funded by a grant awarded under the Workforce Innovation in Regional Economic Development (WIRED) Initiative as implemented by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment & Training Administration.  The information contained in this product was created by a grantee organization and does not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Labor. All references to non-governmental companies or organizations, their services, products, or resources are offered for informational purposes and should not be construed as an endorsement by the Department of Labor.  This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it and is intended for individual organizational, non-commercial use only.”

You are receiving the NCI WIRED Newsletter

Unsubscribephosea@purdue.edu from this list.

Our mailing address is:

NCI WIRED

700 East Firmin Street

Suite 218

Kokomo, IN46902

Our telephone:

765-236-0955

Add us to your address book

Copyright (C) 2009 NCI WIRED All rights reserved.

Forward this email to a friend
Update your profile