Workforce, Small Business, and Education
The Continue to Grow Austin's Economy by Investing in our Workforce, Education Systems, Entrepreneurs, and Local Businesses priority program seeks to ensure Austin’s continued economic health by developing a widely skilled workforce, recruiting new businesses, retaining and growing existing businesses, and tapping into our entrepreneurial spirit. In particular, this priority program seeks to increase job opportunities for Austin residents and increase small businesses and entrepreneurship.
Workforce is what keeps this city buzzing. Whether it is the creative scene, startup scene, advanced manufacturing, or any number of businesses that employ people – Austin has talented locals. There are disparities in earnings though, which means not everyone is enjoying the prosperity of industry growth. To thrive here in Austin as of 2020, the hourly earnings required to support a family – even the smallest family of one infant and one parent – requires earning $24.12 per hour (City of Austin Open Data Portal, October 2020). While Austin’s median household income is $98.9K2 (City of Austin Open Data Portal, August 2020), there are 43%3 (U.S. Census, 2020) of Austin area residents earning less than $24.12/hour. These Austinites earning less than what is required to sustain a family are the focus of the workforce development programming of the City of Austin.
Game Changer
In 2022, Austin City Council appropriated $15M American Rescue Plan Act dollars as additional funds to support the workforce development initiatives already underway. With these boosted dollars the City will be able to support an additional 827 people in workforce development trainings over the next 2 years. These training sessions offered by our partners lead to career paths where the earnings are far greater than $24.12/hour and in industries where the region is experiencing tremendous growth: healthcare, IT, manufacturing, and skilled trades.
In addition to the surge of funds towards workforce development, the City and County look to Workforce Solutions Capital Area in their capacity as the local workforce board to coordinate area training providers and act as the central hub for locals seeking training opportunities to further their careers and earn higher wages. This coordination is no small feat – it required the adoption of the Austin Metro Area Community Workforce Plan – which Austin City Council adopted via ordinance in 2018 and Travis County Commissioners Court adopted in 2017.
Highlights
The Austin Metro Area Community Workforce Plan for 2017 – 2021 was announced to the public in May 2017 where city, county and local business officials unveiled a regional workforce training plan that laid out a common agenda and established a framework for collaboration to coordinate the region’s workforce development organizations and educational institutions. This initiative was and continues to be led by Workforce Solutions Capital Area. The plan aimed to align education and training providers’ training programs with industry needs. The workforce plan had an ambitious goal of supporting 10,000 economically disadvantaged individuals to secure middle-skill jobs by 2021. The outcomes from 2018-2019 have proven successful: “Year Two completers received a 224% increase in median earnings when compared to their income prior to enrolling in a program. These higher median earnings led to a higher number (595) and a greater share (36%) of Year Two completers earning 200% above Federal Poverty Guidelines compared to Year One participants’ first quarter outcomes (517 and 31%)” (University of Texas at Austin Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, September 2020). A new, updated Austin Metro Area Community Workforce Plan for 2021-2024, called The Hire Local Plan, was announced to the public in June 2022.
Another highlight was the rollout of the Business Expansion Incentive for local businesses to support targeted hiring of local Austinites who have barriers to employment. Two businesses, All Pro Hospitality and L'Oca d'Oro, LLC, took advantage of that incentive and employed 20 people who have hiring barriers (City of Austin Open Data Portal, 2022).
Albert DeLuna Photo from wfscapitalarea.com
Finally, without a doubt, the COVID-19 pandemic was not only a health crisis, but it also threw a wrench into the economy. Thankfully the federal government and City of Austin financial reserves provided needed resources in the amount of $60M to support local creatives, businesses and nonprofits in the Austin area between 2020 and 2022. Details on the economic impact of those programs is accessible on ATXrecovers.com.
Challenges
Prior to the Austin Metro Area Community Workforce Plan, the City of Austin and Travis County contracted independently with multiple vendors to deliver workforce development training. Some of these contracts have been around for many decades, so adapting the contracts to meet this coordinated need has been a challenge. The City of Austin Economic Development Department was named lead of workforce development as result of a 2017 audit and the department continues to work to collaborate and coordinate across more than 15 departments that have workforce development activities. This level of communication and organization and goal setting is a challenge and does take time.
Unifying workforce development efforts among the contracted chambers of commerce has also been a challenge. Each chamber has a defined audience of membership and goals for recruiting and retaining businesses in Austin. At times we were out of sync by recruiting businesses to Austin in fields that do not typically hire employees with barriers. This is a work in progress and we are beginning to see employers recruited from industries like healthcare and manufacturing that select the Austin area to operate. One example of unified workforce development efforts between local government, chambers of commerce, and Workforce Solutions Capital Area is an agreement made to foster Tesla's expansion in Travis County. Following recruitment efforts from our chambers of commerce, the City of Austin and Travis County negotiated a workforce development incentive agreement resulting in the creation of a direct Tesla recruiting and workforce training pipeline, which is operated in collaboration with Workforce Solutions Capital Area and Austin Community College.
Program Champion:
Casey Smith
Economic Development
Housing and Planning Parks and Recreation
Austin Public Library
Human Resources
Austin Public Health