As required by the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), the five Local Workforce Development Boards in the 10-county metro Atlanta region (Workforce Region 3) have prepared a regional workforce plan for the City of Atlanta and the counties of Cherokee, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale. In addition, each of the five Local Workforce Development Boards (LWDBs) have prepared unique local workforce plans for their service area. ARC, as the fiscal and administrative agent for the Atlanta Regional Workforce Development Board (ARWDB), prepared a local workforce plan update for the counties of Cherokee, Clayton, Douglas, Fayette, Gwinnett, Henry and Rockdale.
The WIOA provides designated regions and local workforce development areas the responsibility to create employment and training systems tailored specifically to regional economies. These systems must meet the needs of the full range of learners and workers, including those with barriers to employment. The system must also address the specific needs of regional employers and the skills they require. WIOA requires the LWDB to submit a local plan to the Governor. If the local area is part of a planning region, the LWDB will work collaboratively with other LWDBs in the designated region to prepare and submit its local plan as part of a regional plan. The local and regional plans provide the framework for local areas to define how their workforce development systems will achieve the purposes of WIOA. The regional and local plans serve as 4-year action plans to develop, align, and integrate the region and local area’s job driven workforce development systems, and provides the platform to achieve the local area’s visions and strategic goals.
