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Motherlode workforce board describes rural strategies, leveraging $1M WIOA into multi‑million programs
Summary
Motherlode Job Training Board representatives told the California Workforce Development Board that sparse populations and geography require creative service models—colocated job centers, online navigation and grant leveraging—to stretch roughly $1 million in WIOA formula funds into a $4–5 million program supporting training, reentry and forestry cohorts.
The Motherlode Job Training Board outlined how a small rural workforce area stretches limited formula funds across a wide service territory, saying the region relies on partnerships, colocation and grant stacking to deliver jobs services.
Speaking to the California Workforce Development Board ad hoc committee, Dave Taney, who represents the Motherlode workforce area, said the area receives about $1,000,000 in WIOA formula funds but combines that with about 25 grants and contracts to operate a $4–5 million budget. “We only get about 1,000,000 dollars in formula funds from WIOA,” Taney said, noting the board leverages additional federal, state and private sources to run four job centers across four counties and provide targeted programs.
The nut graf: Taney argued that raw WIOA counts understate rural performance—rural areas can have outsized impact when their activities are counted holistically—and he urged the state workforce system to consider equity for low‑population, high‑need regions.
Taney described several operational tactics the Motherlode area uses to serve residents across long distances. The board maintains a job center in each county so services remain within about a half‑hour drive for most residents, colocates offices with chambers of commerce, Career Technical Education partners and the Department of Rehabilitation, and uses a web tool called REACH to route clients to the correct partner. He said those approaches let the small staff (about 22–25 people) serve the equivalent of most unemployed residents in the area: 700 enrolled participants, roughly 240 in training, and about 4,000 unique job center visitors.
Taney also outlined program innovations tied to statewide pilots. He described prison‑to‑employment work (CalJOBS adaptations for prerelease use), a Sierra Forestry Corps cohort that trains workers in 12‑week immersive programs and rapid credential models, and cross‑agency contracts such as a Department of Rehabilitation youth outreach contract.
Board members asked how Motherlode partners with community colleges to expand capacity. Tony Cordova, vice chancellor for workforce and economic development for the California Community Colleges, asked about that alignment; Taney said the region signs MOUs with colleges so they hold office hours inside job centers and coordinate career services and placements.
Taney framed the region’s role in California Jobs First as industry navigator and convener in ag, health care and natural/working lands, and said the local boards play a central role in building industry partnerships, convening stakeholders and amplifying grant opportunities rather than duplicating effort. He recommended using local workforce areas’ existing relationships and governance structures when implementing Jobs First projects.
The presentation concluded with a call for the state workforce system to weigh rural equity when allocating resources and to recognize the multiplicative value of local pilots and partnerships. The ad hoc committee had no formal action on the presentation; it moved to a separate rural health care panel afterward.
