Title
Resolution to Approve the Seventh Amended Charter Agreement of the Hampton Roads Workforce Council
Purpose
PURPOSE/BACKGROUND:
In December 2019, all the Local Elected Officials (LEO’s) who serve on either the Greater Peninsula Workforce Board (Gloucester County, Hampton, James City County, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg, and York County) and Hampton Roads Workforce Council (Chesapeake, Franklin, Isle of Wight County, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Southampton County, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach) were asked to support the reorganization and merger of the two workforce boards so that they could better serve the needs of both employers and job seekers in the greater Hampton Roads area. All fifteen LEO’s approved. Subsequently, the Governor of Virginia officially designated the Hampton Roads Workforce Development Area to include those 15 cities and counties. The purpose of this resolution is to approve the Seventh Amended Charter Agreement of the Hampton Roads Workforce Council, the primary purpose of which is to incorporate those localities formerly comprising the Greater Peninsula Workforce Board into the Hampton Roads Workforce Council.
Discussion:
“Workforce and Talent Development” is the most important issue that employers discuss and that potential employers express interest in before moving into our area. As both the Greater Peninsula Workforce Board and the Hampton Roads Workforce Council have made great strides in partnership opportunities, strategic consolidation that adjusts the focus from what they can do together as allied organizations (negotiating back and forth) to a more structured and coherent single organizational approach that can address workforce development issues across the entire region, was inevitable, and has now come to fruition. The City of Virginia Beach will serve as the grant recipient and the Hampton Roads Workforce Council will serve as the fiscal agent for the new workforce area based upon the consensus achieved among the participating jurisdictions.
Pursuant to the joint request of the 15 localities, the Governor of Virginia designated those localities as the Hampton Roads Workforce Development Area, effective as of July 1, 2021 under the provisions of the (Federal) Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act of 2014 ("WIOA"). In addition to the statutory provisions of WIOA, this consolidation will have the benefit of reducing administrative costs and streamlining workforce services for business, workers, and job seekers.
Impact:
The reorganization of the local workforce development areas will better serve the needs of both employers and job seekers in the greater Hampton Roads area.
Recommendation:
Rec
Approve the resolution.
Body
WHEREAS, under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), Public Law 113-128, local workforce development areas (LWDAs) within a planning region that want to redesignate into a single LWDA shall be given the opportunity to do so;
WHEREAS, the Virginia Board of Workforce Development’s Policy, Number 200-07, entitled, “Process for Requesting LWDA Redesignation: Redesignation Assistance,” effective July 1, 2017, prescribes the process to be followed when a unit or a combination of units of political sub-divisions request redesignation of their LWDAs as provided under WIOA;
WHEREAS, the Greater Peninsula Workforce Board (GPWB; Gloucester County, Hampton, James City County, Newport News, Poquoson, Williamsburg, and York County) tasked with overseeing the delivery of workforce services within LWDA 14 and the Hampton Roads Workforce Council (HRWC;Chesapeake, Franklin, Isle of Wight County, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Southampton County, Suffolk, and Virginia Beach) tasked with overseeing the delivery of workforce services within LWDA 16, are part of one regional economic ecosystem serving the fifteen political sub-divisions of Southeastern Virginia;
WHEREAS, in December, 2019 all the Local Elected Officials (LEO’s) who then served on the GPWB and HRWC were asked to support the reorganization and merger of the two workforce boards so that they could better serve the needs of both employers and job seekers in the greater Hampton Roads area through resolutions adopted by each locality, submitted to the Governor of Virginia;
WHEREAS, subsequently, pursuant to that joint request, the Governor of Virginia officially designated the Hampton Roads Workforce Development Area to include those 15 cities and counties; and
.
WHEREAS, in furtherance of the consolidation, HRWC has prepared the Seventh Amendment to its Charter to incorporate the localities formerly comprising the GPWA.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Council of the City of Hampton, Virginia, that it approves the Seventh Amended Charter Agreement of the Hampton Roads Workforce Council in substantially the form attached hereto, and authorizes the City Manager or her designee to execute that agreement and any other documents necessary to implement the purposes of this resolution.