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What is being spent?
There is no comprehensive assessment of the community's investment in the workforce development effort. Table 1 shows a sample of public investments totaling more than $36 million during the 1998-99 fiscal year. In total, these funds purchase a range of workforce development services including child care and other wrap-around services, Basic Skills education, School to Career programs, job readiness and pre-employment skill development, higher skills training, and universal access.
Table 1
Workforce Development Investments by Selected Major Public Investors, 1998-99
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Funding Agency
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Total
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Percent
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Capital Area Workforce Development Board (CAWDB)
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$21,453,073
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59.5%
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Social Service & Joint Contracts City of Austin & Travis County
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$6,153,914
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17.1%
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Austin Community College*
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$3,268,802
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9.1%
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City of Austin Direct Services
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$2,837,947
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7.9%
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Austin/Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation
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$1,249,157
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3.5%
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United Way / Capital Area
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$710,327
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2.0%
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Travis County Direct Services
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$368,698
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1.0%
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TOTAL
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$36,041,918
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* Represents ACC's funding only through its Business Training and Continuing Education and Adult Education (Workforce, Literacy, and ESL) areas.
Note: The 1998-1999 period represents varying fiscal calendars. CAWDB investments include funds carried over from previous years and funds covering more than one year.
Additional investors include State and Federal agencies, local non-profit and faith-based organizations and public/private partnerships. Efforts are ongoing to develop a more comprehensive assessment of money invested. Examples of current investments include:
- $8.5 million (estimated) will be distributed by Travis County Veterans Services division during 1998-99 for annual vocational rehabilitation and education awards to Travis County veterans, dependants and survivors.
- $388,000 was administered by the Texas Workforce Commission for the Skills Development Fund. In the 1998-99 fiscal year, three trade unions and one business partnered with Austin Community College (ACC) to develop customized training programs for electricians, welders, sheet metal workers, and computer support specialists.
- $7,686,222 has been funneled to Travis County businesses from the Texas Department of Economic Development's Smart Jobs Fund since 1994. The Smart Jobs Fund provides grants to businesses to train individuals for high-skill, high wage jobs (Texas Dept. of Economic Development, 1999).
Smart Jobs and Skills Development reflect two of the ways public and private sectors are working together. While difficult to measure in the aggregate, the business community has been investing more resources to recruit, retain and re-train workers both individually and collaboratively. These collaborations range from employer-developed curricula to paid internships for high school students participating in School to Career programs.
The current economy of Austin/Travis County provides an excellent foundation for continued partnerships between businesses and public services.
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