Commerce outlines workforce strategy: Operation Intern, technical skills grants, RWIP and a talent-attraction platform

Katie Ralston Howe, Deputy Commissioner and workforce director at the Department of Commerce, briefed the task force on a multi-pronged workforce strategy the department is implementing to recruit, train and retain workers across North Dakota.

Howe said Commerce’s recent assessment found more than 80 workforce programs across nine state agencies and no single, obvious entry point for job seekers or employers. "We have more than 80 workforce development programs across more than 9 agencies," she told the committee, adding the study led to 13 recommendations organized into four categories: strategic vision, customer focus, awareness and engagement, and information-tracking and sharing.

Key programs described

- Operation Intern: a long-running Commerce wage-match program for internships and apprenticeships. Employers may receive up to $5,000 per intern with dollar-for-dollar match; the program is highly subscribed and application windows in 2024 and 2025 closed quickly after funds were committed.

- Technical Skills Grants: three-track grant program (track A for accelerated non-degree training, track B for employer upskilling/onboarding and track C for automation-related workforce transitions) with awards up to $200,000 and a 1:1 match. Since inception the program supported dozens of training programs and, during the most recent biennium, obligated about $1.79 million to 37 training efforts.

- Regional Workforce Impact Program (RWIP): launched with ARPA funding (initially $15 million; the division obligated $27 million through multiple rounds) to support regionally led workforce solutions and projects; to date Commerce awarded $27 million to 113 projects, including childcare expansions that added 2,700 new slots and supported 278 new workers. The division said some RWIP projects remain under construction.

- Tribal college grants: funding for tribally controlled community colleges to support workforce training; more than 1,100 students have participated in programs supported by the grant and 928 job placements were confirmed in the dataset Commerce provided.

- Talent attraction (Find the Good Life): a candidate-engagement platform and marketing initiative launched with an initial $12 million appropriation. Commerce reported 5,900 job seekers in the system, 3,300 active in the employer marketplace and about 100 confirmed movers who used the service end-to-end and relocated to North Dakota.

Howe described the subcabinet the governor created to coordinate workforce activity; the subcabinet meets biweekly and is building a public landing page, shared goals and a cross-agency dashboard to align investment and avoid duplication. Committee members repeatedly asked for measurable return-on-investment metrics: legislators asked how many interns convert to full-time hires and how quickly funds translate into job-placements and economic activity. Howe said Commerce tracks employer survey responses and has placement-tracking work with Job Service and NDIT but acknowledged measuring some outcomes — especially long-term retention, spouse and family impacts, and movers who do not use the platform end-to-end — remains difficult.

Why it matters: workforce demand is a central constraint for state economic growth. Commerce framed the initiative as a system-level effort to reduce friction for job seekers and employers, improve data-sharing and prioritize investments where they demonstrate measurable return.

What’s next: Commerce plans to launch RWIP’s next round, deepen data-sharing and finalize the Find the Good Life marketplace metrics; the workforce subcabinet will recommend shared measures to align agency budget requests going into the next legislative session.