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Workforce board highlights kiosk rollout, training grants and partnerships; seeks stronger employer engagement
Summary
The county’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) presentation covered a kiosk rollout to improve referrals, $1.8M of one‑time funding, incumbent worker training results, partnerships (Good Jobs Network, NAWB), and an employer engagement gap the board plans to address.
Coconino County’s workforce and WIOA contractors told the Board of Supervisors on May 14 that they are piloting virtual kiosks, expanding employer training and using one‑time funds to support regional career pathways, while still struggling to reach some local employers.
Presenter Billy Francis and his team described an Atlas virtual kiosk pilot at the county’s American Job Center that produced a step‑up in referrals and allowed staff to register users who would otherwise be hard to reach. “We now have between 16 and 18 kiosks planned across the county,” Francis said, adding that kiosks will be placed at partner locations to connect job seekers to training, resume help and employer services.
Francis said the local workforce board secured about $1.8 million in one‑time funding that will support training and other initiatives through the end of the fiscal year. He highlighted a partnership with the Northern Arizona Good Jobs Network to identify employers offering “good jobs” with benefits and to support upskilling; the county has used incumbent‑worker training funds to assist six employers and upskill about 80 workers. The board also reported that Title I services put 102 people into higher‑wage jobs in 2024, and that linkages with Coconino Community College and Northern Arizona University are creating career pathways.
But Francis said employer engagement remains uneven. The workforce board conducted a minimum‑wage impact study and found smaller businesses report stress from wage increases; board members used that outreach to say the county should tailor workforce programming and messaging to business needs. Francis said the WIOA entitlement is federally funded and administered by the state and that local allocations are sensitive to federal/state decisions.
Ending: The workforce board asked the supervisors to support outreach to local employers and the placement of kiosks in rural communities; it will return with performance numbers and requested continued collaboration with county economic development and education partners.
