Partners: Business

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Adult Education at Work: A Collaborative Resource Addressing the Changing World of Work and Learning
D. Davis, Tennessee Department of Education, Division of Adult and Community Education
A step-by-step guide for adult education program administrators interested in creating or improving workplace education programs through partnerships with employers and other educators. Describes the history of and current trends in workplace education and offers information, ideas for activities, resources, and sample forms to help develop a program's infrastructure, goals, partnerships, content, recruiting techniques, and methods for assessment, evaluation, and reporting.
Download/view: PDF (599KB)

Building New Partnerships for Employment: Collaboration Among Agencies and Public Housing Residents in the Jobs-Plus Demonstration
L. Yuriko and J. Riccio, with J. Dodge, Manpower Demonstration and Research Center (MDRC), 2001
An analysis of the Jobs-Plus Community Revitalization demonstration project, which promoted partnerships in seven cities to develop and operate employment programs in public housing developments. Report summarizes the partnerships' accomplishments and challenges in the following areas: collaborative governance and management, collaboration in service delivery, housing authority adaptations, and residents' involvement. Also offers suggestions for building future collaborative programs.
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Business Investment in U.S. Communities: Attitudes and Priorities
National Partnership Conference on Corporate Community Investment sponsored by the Business Civic Leadership Center (BCLC), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 2007
Summarizes findings from online survey of 85 business organizations, including local and state Chambers of Commerce; small, midsize and large companies; corporate foundations; national associations; and companies representing a variety of industries, such as communications and media, insurance, banking, real estate, and biotechnology. Findings are presented in reproducible graphs and illustrate business organizations' levels of community investment, issues affecting community development, types of community partners, and strategies for community involvement. Highlights education and workforce development as respondents' two most important community issues. Concludes that local partnerships are essential to community investment activities.
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Everybody Wins: Effectively Involving Business In Workforce Development
Jobs for the Future Workforce Innovation Networks, 2001
Explains how the needs of both employers and employees can be met through workforce development programs and suggests public policy solutions to overcome challenges.
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Filling America's Jobs: How to Turn Employers into Partners
A Guide for Public Workforce Professionals
The Manufacturing Institute/Center for Workforce Success, 2004
Designed to help public workforce professionals work more closely with U.S. manufacturers. Explains what motivates employers to become partners with workforce development agencies, how to create partnership opportunities that attract businesses and improve the effectiveness of workforce investment boards and One-Stop Career Centers, and how to market public workforce development systems to businesses. Features tools useful for workforce development agencies and other organizations wanting to collaborate with employers. Tools address: identifying challenges in involving business, making the best use of business partnerships, and creating promotional materials targeting business, among other topics. For more information about the guide and its availability, contact the Center for Workforce Success (CWS) at
pwalton@nam.org

Filling America's Jobs: How You Can Benefit from the Public Workforce Development System
A Guide for Employers The Manufacturing Institute/Center for Workforce Success, 2004
Describes for employers how public/private partnerships can help them find and keep skilled workers. Introduces employers to the programs and services available through the public workforce development system and explains how they can shape these to meet their needs. Highlights the information and services available through the One-Stop Career Centers. Explains how employer associations functioning as workforce intermediaries have partnered with One-Stops, workforce investment boards, and educators to help resolve the skill shortages faced by member companies. For more information about the guide and its availability, contact the Center for Workforce Success (CWS) at
pwalton@nam.org

Independent Sector's Three Sector Initiative
Project examines changing roles and relationships among government, business, and nonprofit sectors. Partnership produced several reports, among them Changing Roles, Changing Relationships: The New Challenge for Business, Nonprofit Organizations, and Government, and Working Better Together: How Government, Business and Nonprofit Organizations Can Achieve Public Purposes Through Cross-Sector Collaboration, Alliances and Partnerships.
http://www.independentsector.org/programs/leadership/3Sector_Over
view.html

Meeting the Collaboration Challenge Workbook: Developing Strategic Alliances Between Nonprofit Organizations and Businesses
The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, 2002
Step-by-step instructions for nonprofit groups to build alliances with businesses. Strategies are also relevant to other organizations interested in collaborating with businesses. Suggests a four-phase process to help organizations prepare, plan, develop, or renew business alliances. Workbook was designed to be used in conjunction with the James Austin book, The Collaboration Challenge and a related video.
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WinWin: Competitive Advantage Through Community Investment
The Ford Foundation, 2001
Provides examples of businesses investing in community economic development and describes the Ford Foundation's Corporate Involvement Initiative, which aims to increase business investment in the nation's low-income communities.
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Workforce Development Case Studies
Collaborative Regional Initiatives, James Irvine Foundation
Case studies developed as part of Collaborative Regional Initiatives funded by the James Irvine Foundation. These initiatives encourage collaboration among public, private and nonprofit sectors to improve economic conditions in California. Report profiles four partnerships, describes the role of business and education in each, and highlights key results. Shares design elements and implications for other partnerships.