Schock Amendment To Benefit The Unemployed Passes House

Press Release

Schock Amendment To Benefit The Unemployed Passes House

Today, the House unanimously passed an amendment offered by Congressman Aaron Schock (R-IL) that instructs the Secretary of Commerce to partner with local Workforce Investment Area (WIA) Boards when awarding grants to Regional Innovation Programs. This will ensure these federal innovation programs are accessing a well trained workforce in order to have a positive impact on regional economic growth.

"On behalf of our local workforce development system, we strongly support Congressman Schock's amendment that would give priority to regional innovation programs that partner with local workforce investment boards," said Bashir Ali, Director of City of Peoria Workforce Development. "Over the last year, our local workforce system has served record numbers of individuals with a diversity of talent, skills, and experiences. Over the last decade, we have also developed the capacity to prepare and connect talented individuals with career opportunities. The local workforce development system can be a valuable partner in this initiative."

"At a time when the national unemployment rate is 9.9 percent, this commonsense amendment will utilize the skills of unemployed workers in order to keep America globally competitive," said Schock. "My amendment encourages regional innovation clusters to partner with their local WIA boards. WIA boards have been the unsung heroes during these tough, economic times. I believe encouraging partnerships between WIA boards and the regional clusters will allow access to a well trained workforce that will have a positive impact on regional economic growth, and provide the expertise to help bring many of these new manufacturing innovation and technology improvements into the marketplace."

The underlying bill, H.R. 5116, the America COMPETES Act, establishes a Regional Innovation Program for the purpose of encouraging and supporting the development of regional innovation strategies. It allows for grants to be given to states, local governments or nonprofits in order to form and develop regional innovation clusters. The Schock amendment will ensure the technical and intellectual expertise of those currently unemployed are taken into account during the formation of the underlying regional innovation clusters.

Local WIA Boards offer a variety of services such as workshops, onsite interviews, job referrals, educational assistance, resume design and career planning help. The Peoria workforce board host bimonthly "Career Connections," mini career fairs, which connected 60 employers with over 1,100 job seekers in 2009.

WIA boards are typically known for hosting job fairs which bring together employers looking to hire people with unemployed individuals looking for jobs. The Peoria center hosts 2 large fairs (one in the spring and one in the fall) where they bring employers and employees together.

In addition to bringing employers, the career fair also includes onsite job search workshops so unemployed individuals can work on their resume or brush up on interviewing skills before meeting a prospective employer.

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