Commerce outlines workforce programs: $26.5M awarded through regional grants, talent-attraction pipeline grows

The North Dakota Department of Commerce briefed the Senate Workforce Development Committee on statewide workforce programs and recent results, highlighting regional grants, talent attraction and a new Office of Legal Immigration.

Katie Ralston Howe, workforce director with the Department of Commerce, told senators the agency and the federally required Workforce Development Council used federal and state funds to launch several initiatives since 2022, including the Regional Workforce Impact Program (RWIP), the Find the Good Life talent-attraction pipeline and a newly created Office of Legal Immigration to help employers recruit and integrate foreign-born workers.

Commerce said RWIP began in April 2022 with $15 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds and has since awarded $26.5 million to 113 projects statewide, leveraging more than $16 million in local matching funds. Projects funded include skilled training, career exploration, career and technical education expansion, talent attraction and childcare. Commerce reported RWIP support has enabled 58 childcare facilities to add more than 2,400 childcare slots and created jobs for 208 childcare workers (some centers still under construction).

Find the Good Life, Commerce's statewide talent-attraction initiative, now maintains a pipeline of roughly 4,400 job seekers with about 2,500 having actively engaged with the program. The department said 1,300 job seekers have used a new candidate marketplace that connects candidates directly to employers; 63 employers currently participate. Commerce reported it has tracked 71 successful movers who relocated to 17 communities; the agency estimates the average economic impact of a single mover at roughly $25,000 per year, producing an approximate $3 million economic impact from the tracked movers so far.

The department described workforce supports beyond attraction. A technical skills training grant has supported more than 70 projects (31 this biennium) and trained about 1,600 workers. Operation Intern provides wage-match funding for internships; this biennium it supported 124 businesses and 442 interns. Commerce said it will reserve a portion of future Operation Intern funding for first-time applicant employers and is proposing to increase the per-intern wage-match from $4,000 to $5,000.

The Office of Legal Immigration (OLI), formed under legislation this biennium, focuses on assisting employers to recruit foreign-born workers and to integrate them into communities. OLI staff said the state has assisted six organizations to successfully recruit foreign-born workers and is actively working with 16 more. The office helped long-term care facilities recruit nurses from Australia using the E-3 visa program and hosted a Global Talent Summit with immigration attorneys, USAID and DHS representatives to build employer capacity for international recruitment.

During Q&A senators asked about program eligibility, regional distribution and next steps. Commerce said RWIP intentionally reserved funding across eight planning regions and required a 25% local match (less than typical dollar-for-dollar matches) to make projects accessible statewide. Officials emphasized coordination with education partners, Job Service and local economic development organizations to implement and scale programs.

Ending note: Commerce characterized the state's combined approach as expanding workforce supply through training, supporting employer hiring practices and recruiting movers; staff said further data collection will allow more precise measurement of program impacts.