June 30, 2022 | Issue 12

Whether you are getting in some long-overdue travel or are opting for a staycation, we hope you have been taking an opportunity to refresh this summer. Along with R&R, summer is also conference season, particularly in the education space. The GOWINN team is delighted to have the opportunity to present at the Nevada Association of Career and Technical Education (NACTE) annual conference and at the Nevada Association of School Administrators (NASA) conference, both in July.

We are also delighted to share all educators that applied for Nevada's 2022 Teacher Externship program have been matched with employer hosts! It was the program's biggest year with 22 teachers matched in three counties. Nevada employers serving as 2022 hosts are listed below. It certainly takes a village to facilitate the best match for these teachers and we are so grateful for your generous collaboration. 

Isla and the GOWINN team

Nevada Governor's Office of New Americans (ONA) has assembled Immigrant Workforce Development Groups (IWDG) for Northern and Southern Nevada to address key challenges and opportunities specific to Nevada's immigrant populations. The groups work toward three goals:

1. Standardize the assessment, referral, and training processes between all IWDG partners.
2. Establish an interagency case management system to reduce client burden, optimize client management, & improve data sharing.
3. Launch and complete the first professional train-to-hire cohort from the skilled immigrant refugee caseload. 

Full details are outlined in the Immigrant Workforce Development Strategic Plan. 

Contact ONA's Program Officer, Grecia S. Perez-Rodriguez, at gperez@ona.nv.gov for more information. 

Nevada's students want to hear from Nevada professionals across all industries and sectors! Set up a session to speak to classrooms virtually in Fall 2022!

Presentations on any topic are welcome and supported fall events include:

• Teach Nevada (September)
• Manufacturing Month (October)
• Nevada STEM (November)

Sessions scheduled before the end of July will be promoted to Nevada educators during professional development weeks in August and will be used as examples during platform training. 

Contact Amy Fleming at afleming@gov.nv.gov for more information.

Does your nonprofit have an innovative technology idea that will advance your mission and increase impact? Each year at Tech Forward, Tech Impact grants two $10,000 Technology Innovation Awards to implement innovative technology projects for nonprofits to improve their communities and change lives. The 2022 Technology Innovation Awards are now open through July 22. 

Are you wondering what it takes to apply? Read more about eligibility requirements and view the application questions to prepare your submission.

On April 6, 2022, Governor Sisolak appointed Hugh Anderson as the new Chair of the Governor’s Workforce Development Board (GWDB). After already serving his first three-year term, Hugh recently started his second term on the board, succeeding Larry Fagerhaug as Chair.  

Hugh takes over as Chair during a time of significant transition for the board. Primarily due to term limits, a majority of the board members concluded participation in November 2021, resulting in the Governor's appointment of 22 new members. With a new cohort of members from across the state representing business, labor, education, community-based organizations, and state and local government, Hugh hopes to lead the board in developing and continuously improving Nevada’s workforce development system.

“The Governor’s Workforce Development Board will be an additional resource to support the efforts of all professionals in the Nevada workforce system. In a spirit of vision, collaboration, and guidance, we will work with partners to help develop tools and data to identify the workforce programs that have the most beneficial impact on our state. We will support those efforts that are working and recommend improving or replacing those that are not,” he said. 

Although the Nevada economy continues to recover from the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic with 2,600 jobs added last month and 96,300 jobs added since May 2021 – an annual increase of 7.1% - the state faces long-term workforce development challenges that need to be addressed to ensure more Nevadans have the chance to succeed and prosper. 

Chairman Anderson believes efforts to improve Nevada’s current and future workforce can only succeed if foundational problems are also tackled.  

“Nevada aspires to a greater degree of industry diversification. That appropriate and ambitious goal will never be accomplished until the fundamental challenges faced by our K-12 and higher education systems, and the social service shortfalls that impede workforce development and labor force participation are also addressed.”

A wealth management advisor since 1980 and currently a Partner and Managing Director at Hightower Las Vegas, a wealth management firm, Hugh is also active in the Las Vegas community. He has served as Chairman of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, the St. Rose Dominican Hospital Community Board, the St. Rose Dominican Health Foundation, and the Nevada Council on Economic Development. In addition to his new role as Chair of the GWDB, he currently serves as Chairman of the government affairs committee for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce and is a Trustee for Roseman University of Health Sciences.

He intends to take his extensive professional and community experience to make the GWDB a working board with high expectations for its members so it becomes more effective in leading workforce development efforts in the state.

“We have assembled a treasure of talent on the GWDB. We can’t expect them to share their unique talents and gifts if we waste their time. Our board will have clear, identifiable goals. We will know when we are making progress and when course corrections are necessary."

Your cape awaits. After months of development which began with market research and engaged dozens of project partners, the Project SANDI team has launched a $393K outreach campaign. Funds leveraged allocations in Nevada’s Dislocated Individuals (SANDI) grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Education and the Accelerating Nevada Apprenticeships for All (ANAA) grant, H-1B Rural Healthcare grant, and State Apprenticeship Expansion 2020 grant awarded by U.S. Department of Labor.

The campaign aims to inspire Nevada's unemployed and underemployed to take advantage of short-term training programs in Nevada's high-demand industries of manufacturing, healthcare, technology, and skilled trades. After clicking through an advertisement, the landing page presents individuals with key benefits, simple steps to engage, and direct contact information for eligible programs - all of which is just a small sampling of the breadth of resources Nevada's workforce system has to offer. 

The goal is to enroll at least 1,600 individuals into short training programs that provide in-demand skills and result in high-quality employment. 

Unemployed and underemployed Nevadans have an opportunity to change their lives through a new program at Western Nevada College.

WNC is launching the Realizing Opportunities for the American Dream to Succeed (ROADS) Project to help retrain Nevadans for a new career and enable them to become key contributors to the state’s economy.

The project is a collaboration between WNC and the Nevada Department of Employment Training and Rehabilitation (DETR) to assist unemployed and underemployed Nevadans by providing them with educational training and skills needed for positions that are in high-demand occupations and industries.

WNC plans to help the underemployed and unemployed residents with training in manufacturing, health care, technology and building trades so they become employed in stable jobs with career opportunities and benefits. The average training time is 6 to 8 weeks.

According to the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation’s (DETR) May 2022 economic report, the state’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in May 2022 which decreased by 0.1 percent from April 2022. Seasonally adjusted estimates account for regularly seen economic patterns, with the following estimates not seasonally adjusted.

In the three Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA), the unemployment rates were 5.2 percent in the Las Vegas

area, 2.9 percent in Reno, and 3.2 percent in the Carson area in May 2022.

Nevada JobConnect representatives throughout the state are ready to help residents prepare for well-paying, in-demand jobs, at no cost to them. Google Career Certificate courses will prepare participants for a new career in 3-6 months, no experience is required. Participants will get professional training designed by Google and earn a credential in data analytics, IT support, project management, IT automation with Python, or user experience (UX) design, along with the opportunity to connect with top employers that are currently hiring.

The Google Career Certificate program, in partnership with the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA), will offer full scholarships for these certificate courses through state workforce agencies.

Program highlights include:

• No-cost access to up to four Google Career Certificates: data analytics, IT support, project management, or user experience (UX) design.
• Complete the online program in 3-6 months with 10 hours of study per week.
• Learn job-ready skills, even for those who have no previous experience.
• Gain a competitive resume with a Google credential.
• Connect with over 150 potential employers in the Google Career Certificates Employer Consortium who are currently hiring.
• Nevada JobConnect provides training and employment resources and support.

Nevada JobConnect representatives want to help everyone who can benefit from this training opportunity. Priority is given to those who may have been especially impacted by the pandemic including people who are Black, Latino, Indigenous, female, LGBTQ+, low-income, justice-involved individuals, older workers, persons with disabilities, unemployed, youth, transitioning service members, Veterans and military spouses.

All Google Career Certificates are available in English with Spanish language support, and the IT Support Certificate also supports Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Italian, Portuguese (Brazilian), Vietnamese, German, and Russian.

Scholarship recipients need access to a computer, hand-held device or smartphone, and the Internet. Those who do not have access to one or more of these tools can contact their JobConnect representative for help. Scholarship recipients must complete the certificate within six months.

To find out more and apply for a scholarship visit Nevada Job Connect to find your nearest JobConnect office, or email GrowWithGoogle@detr.nv.gov and include your contact information, city and zip code so a representative can follow up with you.