Nevada lawmakers urged to support workforce innovation program

CARSON CITY, Nev. — Lawmakers made it clear on Friday, Feb. 15, they support the idea behind the Workforce Innovation for a New Nevada program operated by the Governor's Office of Economic Development.

But Assemblyman Tyrone Thompson, D-North Las Vegas, questioned whether GOED was tracking the success of the program.

WINN funds efforts to train and educate workers in the specific skills different companies say they need. As part of that effort, they ask those companies to identify how many workers they'll hire and to actually hire them.

Thompson specifically asked how well GOED is tracking how many people actually get those jobs.

Her said when a company said it would hire 20 people, GOED needs to make sure it does so.

“If they're not producing, we need to get an employer that will do what he or she promises,” he said.

GOED Director Paul Anderson assured him they do so: “We track that very closely. How many are eligible, how many get into the programs and how many complete the program and did they get a job at the end of the day. To your point, it's the outcome that matters.”

Anderson, however, said the WINN program is using up the money it was appropriated.

That prompted Sen. Ben Kieckhefer, R-Reno, to urge fellow lawmakers to consider putting money into the program.

“I think this is where we really need to be investing money if we're concerned about people trapped in low income jobs,” he said. “These types of programs that give people new skills, make people more productive. This is how we give people new opportunities to grow so I hope the committee would look at investing in this.”