Since it was founded, WIN has brought in over $150 million in funding to southeast Michigan through grants awarded to various organizations in the region. To support this investment, WIN has written, supported, helped design conceptually, and informed proposals with data and other research. WIN also has made possible and contributed to sponsored research projects that have informed regional partners’ work, another important form of investment.
Most recently, WIN and its partners have submitted grant applications for the following initiatives:
Building an Industry Infinity Supply Chain
US Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA) H-1B One Workforce
The WIN eight community colleges and six workforce development boards, with the Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA) serving as the lead applicant, developed a $10 million grant application titled Building an Industry Infinity Supply Chain which is focused on building career pathways in the southeast Michigan to middle skills and high skills jobs in the manufacturing, transportation, and information technology industry sectors. The application proposes continued delivery of robotics and automation certification training program based upon employer demand, a regional cybersecurity training strategy, and developing an employer collaborative in transportation, with participation from MDOT, to develop more curriculum and delivery of certification and degree programs to meet the needs of the transportation industry. Technology is impacting the workforce skills needs in each of these sectors.
Industry Infinity recognizes that a continuous industrial innovation and revolution is underway. Industry Infinity can also be understood as the center point of the convergence between the exponential economy and Industry 4.0, where the speed at which data is processed, and the rate at which industry is innovating, intersect or collide. Cybersecurity and robotics and automation are two of eight Industry 4.0 technology sectors recognized by Automation Alley, which are a focus of this H1-B One Workforce strategy.
Autonomous Career Navigation System
US Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration (ETA) Strengthening Community Colleges federal grant opportunity
The WIN community college and Michigan Works! partners, with Monroe County Community College as the lead applicant, developed a $5 million grant application to create connections between secondary career and technical education CTEs and postsecondary institutions.
Autonomous Career Navigation System partners sounded the alarm that workforce-related secondary and postsecondary training and education programs on current, in-demand skills needs has to be delivered faster and better than before through a system of uncompleted delivery. This continuous talent pipeline delivery system is the true essence and meaning behind the name selected, Autonomous Career Navigation System partners.
In development of this application, eight community college local needs assessments and Michigan Works! WIOA regional plans for prosperity regions 6, 9, and 10 were summarized and a logic model was developed which provides the design for building navigator roles between secondary and postsecondary systems. An excerpt taken verbatim from the Henry Ford College (HFC) Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment, which was noted in the application, “Perhaps the greatest factor contributing to performance inequalities starts before students arrive at Henry Ford College. The disappearance from the K-12 system of educational and learning experiences regarding the trades, especially in the industrial arts, has had a profound impact on the number of students interested in these careers as well as the failure to acquire the basic skills sets necessary for success within them. It is a problem of “awareness.” We believe that we would see more under-represented students across the fields where career pathways are more prominent and better aligned between K-12 and college.”
Michigan Health Careers Partnership
US DOL Employment and Training Administration H-1B Rural Healthcare
The State of Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Workforce Development (LEO-WD), as the lead applicant, worked collaboratively with WIN and other partners, to apply for a $2.5 million grant from the H-1B Rural Healthcare Grant Program to establish a Michigan Health Careers Partnership for Rural Communities (MI-HCPRC) and continue to support employer‑led collaboratives to address healthcare workforce shortages in rural communities across the state.
The partners of the Michigan Health Careers Partnership for Rural Communities (MI-HCPRC) propose: 1) increase the number of individuals training in healthcare occupations that directly impact patient care; 2) alleviate healthcare workforce shortages by creating sustainable employment and training programs in healthcare occupations (including behavioral and mental healthcare) serving rural populations; 3) convene employers, education and training providers, workforce development organizations, and other applicable partners, such as economic development organizations and government to formulate solutions to fill identified talent gaps in the rural healthcare workforce.
Strengthening the Mobility Talent Pipeline in Southeast Michigan
US Economic Development Administration (EDA) STEM Challenge
The Southeast Michigan Community Alliance (SEMCA) WIN is the lead applicant in partnership with Wayne State University to submit the Strengthening the Mobility Talent Pipeline in Southeast Michigan by supporting the forward movement on the employer collaborative which offers online professional short courses on mobility to deepen the interest of students in cutting-edge technology. MAGMA is perhaps best known for its quarterly advisory council meetings, which attract over 300 participants annually. Participants include industry, academia, public and nonprofit organizations, philanthropic foundations, and guests from foreign governments. Typically hosted by MAGMA board members, advisory committee meetings highlight thought leaders from industry partners speaking on talent centered topics, with focus areas like: cybersecurity, embedded vehicle systems, technician skills, engineering demand, how post-secondary can better prepare new graduates for the mobility workforce, and other topics as proposed by board members.
Other goals include working with Apprenti (an IT apprenticeship program whose Michigan affiliate is housed within WIN) to develop the tech talent pool. MAGMA is also exploring a concept to connect K-12 CTE instructors with MAGMA employers for externship opportunities. MAGMA will continue to pursue bringing the Federation for Advanced Manufacturing Education (FAME) and the Advanced Manufacturing Technician (AMT) program to Michigan. The AMT program is a collaborative or employer-driven talent pipeline program that Toyota uses at other facilities across the country that MAGMA employers have expressed interest in and working towards bringing to Michigan.