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New workforce office and board launch; leaders cite housing, data and training academies as priorities
Summary
Committee met new executive director and newly constituted State Workforce Development Board chair; discussion focused on coordinating statewide training and strategies, reducing board size, piloting program models like the Vermont Construction Academy, and building a data trust; committee requested board goals and metrics.
The Senate Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs Committee met the new executive director of the Office of Workforce Strategy and Development and the newly appointed chair of the State Workforce Development Board and heard plans to streamline coordination of workforce programs, identify priority sectors and improve data for policy decisions.
Why it matters: speakers said a smaller, more active board and a central office will be used as a “funnel” to limit duplication across dozens of separate workforce programs and to align training, employer needs and state investments. Legislators pressed for clear metrics and for the office and board to show how proposed actions will address barriers such as housing and program scale.
Savannah Hassell, who introduced herself as "the executive director of the new office of workforce strategy and development," told the committee the office has been open 116 days and she started January…
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