Kane County Jobs Committee members on Sept. 12 asked county staff to provide clearer, consolidated reporting on workforce-development programs and finances and heard that the county will install job-search kiosks in the community funded through a federal workforce grant.
Committee members said workforce reporting should include measurable outcomes, who is served and how funds are spent. Committee member Chris Bates and others urged staff to produce compact dashboards that go beyond long program lists and show lives affected.
County staff said they are reviewing which reports should come to the Jobs Committee and which should go to the finance committee. Staff noted ongoing hiring in the workforce department and said the state has expressed satisfaction with recent progress. Staff also said some financial reporting tied to WIOA (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) obligations should be coordinated with the county finance office and grants staff.
Staff described a separate initiative to place web-enabled kiosks in community locations so residents without easy access to Batavia headquarters can search for jobs and career resources. The county said it received a roughly $167,000 grant (WIOA-related) to install four kiosks; the first ribbon-cutting will be at the Quad County Urban League on Farnsworth in Aurora later this month.
Committee members also heard that the Economic Development Office (EDO) will share space with the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) in downtown Batavia to provide coordinated services: one-stop help for site selection, state grant information and workforce recruitment. Staff described the space as a soft opening this fall and a fuller opening early next year.
Members directed staff to identify which workforce financial reports the committee should regularly review and to return with recommendations before the next meeting.