Greater Bemidji CI Report – Final

What has been most instrumenta to your progress?

Employers: At the center of our work is employers. We routinely work with approximately 25 companies. As the MI2 Council we meet 3-4 times per year. We use that time to discuss workforce challenges; share new approaches; highlight what a company is doing; and, ask for direction to prioritize issues needing the most attention. We also meet with companies individually to discuss their unique workforce issues. Over the past two years we worked very closely with Wells Technology, Marvin Windows and Doors, American Crystal Sugar, Norbord Minnesota, Nortech Systems, Bemidji Steel, Team Industries, Dee Inc, and many others. Based on those discussions and planning sessions we identified several common workforce trends. The first, recruitment for all types of positions is difficult due to scarcity of labor. The second, skilled labor, particularly in the electrical area, is hard to find and to grow. The third, resources (education and employment services) are not aligned with today’s workforce needs. They are not adapting the way employers have had to adapt…which has left employers no choice but to try to figure things out on their own. Communicating these needs to workforce partn

Education: We are working very closely with Wells Technology and the Wells Academy. Although low income is common in our region, our Native American population experiences chronic poverty and barriers to employment. MI2 has partnered with the Wells family to open a doorway. MI2 provides training and Wells Technology provides jobs. The gray area between is a mix of support services, coaching and problem solving to surround individuals with resources and stability. We’re working together to provide an environment that supports and understands traditional, Native American values, while building a path for a good life.

MI2 is also working closely with high schools. In 2018 the Bemidji High School hired a new Principal with responsibility to grow Career Academies. MI2 with its Mechatronics program was the first Career Academy. Today there are almost two dozen. The goal is to give high school students an opportunity to explore a career area; learn about employer expectations; and, provide a work experience for them to see what work is like in that industry.

This work is important because it grows our labor pool and provides opportunity.

Employment Services: A Workforce Summit was convened in October 2018 where employers set the agenda, presented and interacted with education and employment service organizations. The event was well attended with a diverse audience. We asked the audience three questions for each workforce segment: Education, Employment Services and Employers. What should each segment continue to do? What should we start doing? What should we stop doing? Overarching themes were feel urgency, engage, think differently, collaborate, take risks, stop claiming turf, stop caring WHO is providing the solutions and be more flexible.

We shared the results with the group; and, are using the comments to help inform workforce partners on ways to collaborate with employers for workforce development. This is important because many workforce and education programs complain they can’t get employers involved. This Summit was presented by employers.

In 2019 the employer driven summit concept was repeated by DEED and Rural MN CEP. Again it was well attended; and, we hope will set a new trend for employer involvement.

Key lessons learned

We knew this work would be highly political and require partnership with organizations that are entrenched with bureaucracy. Shifting those organizations to new perspectives, processes and practices will take time and most likely, legislation to change.

Workforce organizations are struggling to be effective, adequately funded and appropriately focused. Politics make it possible to ignore employer voices, innovation and to fight change. In an article in the March 3, 2019 Star Tribune entitled Minnesota State Seeks Outside Ideas for Innovation, Jim Foster describes what we are experiencing in our region, not only with Minnesota State but also with some workforce development partners.

In our interim report we talked about our region being 1 of 3 in the nation to still be operated under a Concentrated Employment Program. Political pressure, led by employers, pushed for Beltrami County to have a local CareerForce Center with onsite DEED services. Rural MN CEP yielded to the pressure. It is not in their organizational interest long term and financially to allow this region to function like the rest of the state. They found a compromise; and, change occurred.

Reflections on the community innovation process

In our first year, resourceful was the focus. Today, we can’t separate resourceful from collaborative or inclusive because resources are “what” is provided but “collaboration and inclusion” is “how” we meet needs. They are mutually dependent. We have spent this grant period “weaving” resources to help existing programs and to build the availability of skilled workers. Simultaneously, we continue to learn about our partnership’s capacity and barriers as a system. With employers we have a Pipeline Program to help upskill current employees; support employee retention; and, build career opportunities. With educators we have collaborated to implement a Youth programs. These provide skills, wages, and work experience to youth ages 14 to 24. We have helped a number of students who dropped out or did not graduate but need skills to secure a livable wage job. Many are Native American youth with an unstable family structure.

A Pathways to Prosperity project let us work more closely with Beltrami County and students who may be struggling to complete programs at Northwest Technical College. These funds supplemented county support services; provided additional training opportunit

Other key elements of Community Innovation

System Development: The process of creating or altering systems, along with the processes, practices, models, and methodologies used to develop them. On your diagram it’s the orange loops between Need and Innovation. As conversations give rise to processes and practices, the loops become more stable and information moves more quickly; systems develop.

Our project has been leveraging employer influence to alter workforce development systems in our region. While most would describe our work as meetings to improve our working relationships and service to individuals, the reality is we are building new processes, practices and methods that are collaborative.

Progress toward an innovation

We do feel we’ve had a breakthrough in workforce development in our region. We’re seeing a broader and more involved collaborative effort to help people gain employment. Before the grant, our workforce partnership had far less capacity. The county, while still struggling, has more services to offer; they are aligned with MI2 for intake and orientation; and, we are collaborating on case management to help people. Bemidji High School had no dedicated staff to building their Career Academies and students were leaving school without skills to find livable wage jobs. Today, not only is there dedicated staff to Career Academies, they have multiple career paths; they have aligned their intake and orientation system with MI2; we are partnering to bring support services to at risk youth (food, transportation, homeless); and, they are a model other high schools are replicating. Each partner has grown. We think this is happening because we’ve found a way to help each other in our respective work and the impact is helping more people. It’s not just in the interest of the person we serve; our collaboration is meeting a long-term interest supporting each partner organization’s viability.

What it will take to reach an innovation?

We are seeing innovation locally but we want to see regional innovation. As we continue our work, we’ve learned that we need to be ready for new partners to still say no to change. They may be preserving their organization’s survival over putting workforce development customers (employers and individuals) first. They may also realize no one outside of the community truly understands not only what is needed but why our population struggles with employment, particularly with regard to serving Native Americans and chronic poverty. This is important to know because it exposes the root elements needed for lasting systemic change. As a region we need to be aware of regional difference and influence workforce development funding and legislation. One size cannot fit all. Collaboration at the regional level will meet short term needs more effectively; but larger scale community innovation in workforce development requires more.

What’s next?

There is always more work to be done, particularly in this economy. We have two projects we’re developing right now. MI2 was asked if we would participate in a youth homeless project. We work with many youth who lack stable housing or are at risk of losing housing. We have helped secure housing on a case by case basis but this project would elevate the discussion to a more systems approach of identification and referral. The second project is larger and we could use some assistance. Although MI2 is doing a good job of recruiting, assessing and training people for jobs, they still lack work hardening and experience. We would like to extend our training to a working “mini plant” where participants actually create and sell products under the supervision of “work mentors”. We have two business partners who are willing to help us with space and products that can be made in smaller batches and shipping, but we would need assistance paying for work mentors and initial start up costs. If this is something the Foundation would like to support, we would love to have you partner with us on this new venture.

If you could do it all over again…

Try not to be too disappointed when a workforce partner is unable to engage in the collaborative. Everything takes time. If we stay focused on helping people get good jobs, the resources will eventually align with that goal. One day, the timing may be right for that partner to come back to the table. This has become true for some of our tribal partners and we hope will be true for others in the future

One last thought

Workforce development is a multi-layered issue where funding often dictates who is and who is not served; and, what can be provided. Jobs are an end goal rather than a driving consideration. Some funding programs focus on age, while others on income. Most recently there’s eligibility criteria for math and reading levels. It is difficult to bring a region together when state programs aren’t in agreement or alignment. No matter what solutions are put in place, sustainability is dependent on securing those dollars.