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April 18, 2002
Contact: Marilyn S. LeFeber,
810-238-5651,
info@mott.org
$1.7-million grant to support Flint-area workforce development
FLINT, Michigan – Increasing opportunities for underemployed Flint-area residents to work in the growing health-care and manufacturing sectors is the purpose of a three-year, $1.7-million grant by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation to the National Economic Development and Law Center (NEDLC) in Oakland, California.
NEDLC will oversee the Flint Sector Employment Initiative (FSEI), which is expected to launch in summer 2002, and will also provide participating organizations with technical and capacity-building assistance. Two Flint-area agencies – the Flint-Genesee Economic Growth Alliance and the Greater Flint Health Coalition – will coordinate and manage the local initiative, with several other local organizations also playing ongoing roles.
“The overall objective of the project is to develop and coordinate local education, training and skill-development programs in ways that engage and benefit both Flint-area industry and low-income job seekers,” said NEDLC President James W. Head.
NEDLC, with support of a Mott grant, began investigating the possibility of local sector-focused employment initiatives in 1999. A formal report, “The Flint Sector Employment Project: Findings and Recommendations From the Research Phase” released in October 2001, identifies various challenges and opportunities for such initiatives, including the role of job-specific training and placement programs, and the importance of employee support services.
The report also found that, in a comparative analysis of regional industries, the local health-care and small- to mid-sized manufacturing sectors met four important criteria for workforce development: significant potential for job growth, accessibility of jobs within the industry to low-skill workers, opportunities within the industry to earn a living wage, and the potential for career advancement.
“This initiative will provide more opportunities for stable, living-wage employment for many Flint-area residents,” said Mott President William S. White. “Improving access to such opportunities is key to helping families lift themselves out of poverty.”
The NEDLC report notes the importance of strengthening the area’s existing workforce development system, including how the system works with industries to recruit, hire, support and promote low-income workers. FSEI organizers stress that the initiative will enhance that system, not replace it, and note that representatives from the area’s workforce development sector were involved in the initiative’s research phase and are participating in its planning and implementation.
“The initiative’s direction is based on almost two years of extensive research conducted by NEDLC and several Flint partners,” said Todd Brian, Growth Alliance president. “It has brought together local residents, employers and organizations to identify needs, develop strategies and build relationships.”
The FSEI’s launch will include linking providers of workforce development programs and support services, creating working agreements with area employers, and conducting a participant outreach and recruitment campaign.
“This initiative is an important opportunity to help low-income Flint-area residents connect with jobs that offer them hope for a stable and successful future,” said Health Coalition President Stephen Skorcz.
Supporting the FSEI’s focus on the health-care industry are findings that forecast a regional increase of 2,020 jobs in that sector between 1996 and 2006. The NEDLC report also indicates that for the same time period, two manufacturing industries – industrial machinery and equipment, and rubber and miscellaneous plastic products – could add 1,510 jobs. Such projections are subject to market change.
Mott has provided more than $29 million for the development, implementation and evaluation of sectoral employment initiatives across the United States since 1981. Such programs continue to demonstrate success in improving the quality of jobs frequently held by low-income people and in increasing their access to work opportunities in occupations and industries not traditionally open to the poor.
NEDLC, established in 1969, is a nonprofit public interest law and planning organization specializing in community economic development. It works in collaboration with community organizations, private foundations, corporations and government agencies to build the human, social and economic capacities of low-income communities and their residents. Since launching its Sector Employment Initiative in 1991, NEDLC has gained national recognition as a leading technical expert in this area, and has provided assistance to sectoral programs in over 15 urban and rural communities across the country. For more information about NEDLC, visit its Web site at www.nedlc.org.
The Flint-Genesee Economic Growth Alliance, founded in 1988, leads and coordinates economic development within Flint and Genesee County. Specifically, the alliance targets the retention, expansion and attraction of key business segments, including manufacturing, wholesale business services and transportation. The Greater Flint Health Coalition, formed in 1992, has the mission of improving the health status of Flint and Genesee County residents, and improving the quality and cost effectiveness of the community’s health-care system.
The Mott Foundation, established in 1926 by an automotive pioneer, is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the U.S. and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally. Grantmaking is focused in four programs: Civil Society, Environment, Flint Area and Pathways Out of Poverty. Besides Flint, offices are located in metropolitan Detroit, Johannesburg (South Africa) and London. The Foundation, with 2012 year-end assets of $2.28 billion, made 439 grants totaling $91 million. For more information, visit www.mott.org.
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