Manufacturing is a key industry in Central Texas, with many businesses producing everything from microchips to medical equipment. Nestled in the heart of Austin, you’ll find Bearded Brothers, an organic snack brand that takes great pride in manufacturing just as much as it delights in customer experience.
To date, the company has hired three program graduates to join their production and fulfilment team, said Nick Meyer, plant manager. While on the job, the graduates apply their classroom learnings through the entire production process, including fulfillment, machine operating and demand planning.
“We’re proud to be firmly rooted in Austin since our inception,” Nick said. “With the pool of applicants from this program, we have been able to tap into more opportunities to employ local candidates with a demonstrated interest to learn and grow in the production of high-quality snack bars.”
Bearded Brothers’ relationship with Workforce Solutions began in October 2021 through an introduction by the Austin Regional Manufacturers Association. Both Workforce Solutions, Bearded Brothers and the association participate in the Central Texas Manufacturing Partnership to support the region’s manufacturing industry.
The Certified Production Technician program is a joint effort by the Central Texas Manufacturing Partnership, with local employers and training providers Skillpoint Alliance and Austin Community College as members.
The program trains individuals in the core competencies for front-line, advanced manufacturing occupations, from entry-level to supervisor.
The curriculum was developed with input from numerous manufacturing employers to pass on the skills for today’s critical roles, leading to an industry-recognized credential.
“It creates a great base of manufacturing knowledge that sets program graduates up for success in manufacturing wherever they land upon graduation,” said Nick. “This is an excellent pool of candidates that are a wonderful value add to the team.”
Nick added, “We have had a great experience with the program and look forward to continuing to work with the program!”
Workforce Solutions connects local people to local jobs. We can assist your organization with growing your workforce and strengthening the skills of your talent with a variety of resources, all at no cost to you. Learn more here.
As Austin continues growing, the metro will require more skilled workers to build and maintain everything going up across the region. With the goal in mind of introducing the next generation of skilled talent to opportunities in the trades, we hosted the annual Metroplex Career Rally at Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 286 on March 22 and 23 for local students.
Members of six local Registered Apprenticeship Programs (RAPs) provided hands-on demos and workshops for 80 middle school and 200 high school students over the two-day event. With thousands of local job openings for occupations like plumbers, electricians, carpenters and more, the importance of growing the next generation of craftspeople becomes more apparent.
“Apprenticeship is very important to our industry. There is no better training model—the hands-on method works great. We take someone who is interested in getting their foot in the door and we get them working and they earn while they learn,” said Joe Cooper, Training Director at Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 286and a member of the Capital Area Board of Directors.
“The apprenticeship model helps us to renew our ranks and ensure we have the next generation of skilled craftspeople. Apprenticeship lets our contractor partners, our journeymen, and our apprentices give back and have some shape and control over the industry we work in,” Joe said.
Participating students came from campuses in Austin, Del Valle, Manor, and Pflugerville independent school districts. Students with the YouthBuild Austin program at American YouthWorks also joined.
Students learned about eligibility requirements, benefits, and what a typical work day looks like as apprentices in electrical, plumbing, ironworking, carpentry, and sheet metal.
Emanuel Calwac, a senior at Del Valle High School, said, “My favorite thing about the event is all the people who came out to support us and teach us about things we don’t know, like the trades and careers we can choose and all the things we can think about for our future lives.”
Hunter McIntee, a student at American YouthWorks, said, “I’m really interested in these programs, mainly the carpenters program. I want to see where I can get my foot in the door with that and make huge steps toward my future goals and career.”
Additionally, career and education outreach specialists with WFS Capital Area hosted a workshop on career exploration utilizing tools created by the board and the Texas Workforce Commission to help students plan and budget for their adult lives.
The event concluded with Julian Alvarez, Commissioner Representing Labor for the Texas Workforce Commission, speaking about the opportunities the students had explored: “What I see here in this room are future employers. With your initiative and the skills you will gain in the trades, you will own your own business one day.”
For Hakim Budillo, a senior at Del Valle High School, his plans are set: “My plans for the next couple years are to be a welder here at Local 286.”
Isaac Torres with the Make It Movement spoke about how youth can create their purpose statement to determine what they are meant to do in life rather than just what they are told to do.
Following the panels and presentations was a networking and job fair with more than 30 employers and training partners participated, including American YouthWorks, Goodwill Central Texas, Lifeworks, Make It Movement, and Skillpoint Alliance.
For Berenice Lopez, the best part of the event was the fact Youth Career Day was her first ever job fair.
Renee Williamson, another student, said, “My favorite part of the day was everything!”
“This day is so important because we need to inspire a whole new generation that there is a way to make good money, earn a skill and build a career in a short time after they leave high school,” Isaac said. “If they have the will, we will show them how to make it.”
SaulPaul, a rapper from Houston and member of the Make It Movement, emceed Youth Career Day.
“This year, not only did I get to emcee as in host, but also emcee as in make some music. We had some amazing guests come up on stage—it was interactive, it was engaging,” SaulPaul said.
Youth Career Day concluded with raffle prizes for youth who completed a passport with questions to ask the vendors to gain experience networking and job searching.
Workforce Solutions Capital Area is the backbone member of the Austin Opportunity Youth Collaborative (AOYC). This consortium of greater Austin-area community groups, represent a long history of providing coordinated services to youth. AOYC collaborates to amplify a focus on opportunity youth for education initiatives that provide employment training opportunities and lead to jobs. Learn more about how we support opportunity youth in Austin.
Our thanks to our Youth Career Day sponsors for their generous contributions:
Title Sponsor: Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 286
Title Sponsor: Make It Movement
Austin Central Library
Continental Automotive Group
Greystar
Skillpoint Alliance
Guest speakers offering career and education advice were Chante Braswell with HID Global, Michael Ward Jr. with Austin Urban Technology Movement, Shechem Sauls with CommUnity Care, and Farhan Manjiyani with Rev.com.
Youth Career Day also featured a panel with representatives of local employers sharing tips for how to succeed in a first job (moderated by a student from American YouthWorks!). On the panel were Carmen Cardenas with CommUnity Care, Shawn Nelson with Continental Auto Group, and Brian Peabody with Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 286, and Alex Popwell with Rev.com.
The day also featured presentations on interviewing by Dr. Katie Bradford of the Moody College of Communication at UT Austin and on soft skills by Megan Richardson at Goodwill Central Texas.
Isaac Torres with the Make It Movement spoke about how youth can create their purpose statement to determine what they are meant to do in life rather than just what they are told to do.
Following the panels and presentations was a networking and job fair with more than 30 employers and training partners participated, including American YouthWorks, Goodwill Central Texas, Lifeworks, Make It Movement, and Skillpoint Alliance.
For Berenice Lopez, the best part of the event was the fact Youth Career Day was her first ever job fair.
Renee Williamson, another student, said, “My favorite part of the day was everything!”
“This day is so important because we need to inspire a whole new generation that there is a way to make good money, earn a skill and build a career in a short time after they leave high school,” Isaac said. “If they have the will, we will show them how to make it.”
SaulPaul, a rapper from Houston and member of the Make It Movement, emceed Youth Career Day.
“This year, not only did I get to emcee as in host, but also emcee as in make some music. We had some amazing guests come up on stage—it was interactive, it was engaging,” SaulPaul said.
Youth Career Day concluded with raffle prizes for youth who completed a passport with questions to ask the vendors to gain experience networking and job searching.
Workforce Solutions Capital Area is the backbone member of the Austin Opportunity Youth Collaborative (AOYC). This consortium of greater Austin-area community groups, represent a long history of providing coordinated services to youth. AOYC collaborates to amplify a focus on opportunity youth for education initiatives that provide employment training opportunities and lead to jobs. Learn more about how we support opportunity youth in Austin.
Our thanks to our Youth Career Day sponsors for their generous contributions:
Title Sponsor: Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 286
Title Sponsor: Make It Movement
Austin Central Library
Continental Automotive Group
Greystar
Skillpoint Alliance
Did you know Workforce Solutions Capital Area supports opportunity youth in Austin? Opportunity youth are people who are 16 to 24 years old and not sufficiently engaged in education and employment. This is typically due to systemic barriers that we have identified and continue addressing collectively. There are approximately 24,000 opportunity youth in the greater Austin area, according to American Communities survey data.
On November 9, Workforce Solutions Capital Area joined many of our partners to host Youth Career Day: Networking & Job Fair at Austin Central Library. About 100 youth from around Central Texas networked with professionals and recruiters in high-demand industries, learned about high-wage and high-growth careers in Austin and how to network and prepare for mock interviews with employers.
Guest speakers offering career and education advice were Chante Braswell with HID Global, Michael Ward Jr. with Austin Urban Technology Movement, Shechem Sauls with CommUnity Care, and Farhan Manjiyani with Rev.com.
Youth Career Day also featured a panel with representatives of local employers sharing tips for how to succeed in a first job (moderated by a student from American YouthWorks!). On the panel were Carmen Cardenas with CommUnity Care, Shawn Nelson with Continental Auto Group, and Brian Peabody with Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 286, and Alex Popwell with Rev.com.
The day also featured presentations on interviewing by Dr. Katie Bradford of the Moody College of Communication at UT Austin and on soft skills by Megan Richardson at Goodwill Central Texas.
Isaac Torres with the Make It Movement spoke about how youth can create their purpose statement to determine what they are meant to do in life rather than just what they are told to do.
Following the panels and presentations was a networking and job fair with more than 30 employers and training partners participated, including American YouthWorks, Goodwill Central Texas, Lifeworks, Make It Movement, and Skillpoint Alliance.
For Berenice Lopez, the best part of the event was the fact Youth Career Day was her first ever job fair.
Renee Williamson, another student, said, “My favorite part of the day was everything!”
“This day is so important because we need to inspire a whole new generation that there is a way to make good money, earn a skill and build a career in a short time after they leave high school,” Isaac said. “If they have the will, we will show them how to make it.”
SaulPaul, a rapper from Houston and member of the Make It Movement, emceed Youth Career Day.
“This year, not only did I get to emcee as in host, but also emcee as in make some music. We had some amazing guests come up on stage—it was interactive, it was engaging,” SaulPaul said.
Youth Career Day concluded with raffle prizes for youth who completed a passport with questions to ask the vendors to gain experience networking and job searching.
Workforce Solutions Capital Area is the backbone member of the Austin Opportunity Youth Collaborative (AOYC). This consortium of greater Austin-area community groups, represent a long history of providing coordinated services to youth. AOYC collaborates to amplify a focus on opportunity youth for education initiatives that provide employment training opportunities and lead to jobs. Learn more about how we support opportunity youth in Austin.
Our thanks to our Youth Career Day sponsors for their generous contributions:
Key takeaway: People of color have been disproportionately impacted by unemployment, and was exacerbated by the pandemic.
Key findings:
In Texas, in the first quarter of 2021, while unemployment rate was at 6.9%, Black unemployment was at 11.2% and Hispanic at 8.0%. Meanwhile, White unemployment was 4.9%1
In the Austin metro, in August 2021, when unemployment was 3.8% overall, Black unemployment was 6.0%, Hispanic at 4.1%, and White at 3.4%.2
Also, unemployment claimant data shows that 69% (or about 110,000 people) of the 158,000+ unemployment claimants in Travis County since March 2020 have less than an associate’s degree. These claimants are disproportionately black or Hispanic.
Key ways WFS is helping address these issues…
Workforce Solutions Capital Area is behind the Hire Local Plan, the next iteration of the Austin metro Community Workforce Plan which aims to improve economically disadvantaged residents’ access to better economic opportunities. Input from our community is ensuring the plan is inclusive and collaborative; empowers residents to more efficiently match employers’ skills needs; and successfully prepares economically disadvantaged residents for higher-skill jobs.
WFS has seen success with equitable outcomes for our training programs. From 2016–2018:
The average annual wage increase for an adult completer of our Current Workforce Training (where 88% of clients served were people of color) is substantial at more than $15,000/yr or approx. $7/hr more. The average wage after exit is $32,324. This program is designed for adults who are low income or laid off to enable them to enter the workforce at a self-sufficient wage.
The average annual wage increase for a youth completer of our Emerging Workforce Training (where 90% of clients served were people of color) is substantial at more than $6,700/yr. This program is designed to assist in-school, at-risk youth with barriers ages 16-24 in obtaining their high school diploma/GED and enter post-secondary education or the workforce.
Bottom line: Workforce Solutions Capital Area supports a more equitable and inclusive skills training system to reach and engage with underserved, under-skilled, and under-represented populations. When individuals engage with us, our goal is to help them attain the most skills possible to earn the most possible.
The Incumbent Worker Training (IWT) program provides funding assistance to qualifying employers to provide skills training to current full-time, permanent employees. Through federal funds and a match from the employer, a worker can receive training at no cost to them.
The Need
Patient’s Premier Choice (PPC), a pediatric home health care agency serving patients in the Austin metro area, sought to invest in growing the skills of their workforce by advancing employees’ careers and provide a greater quality of care to patients.
This is a tool to show appreciation to your staff, to reduce the financial burden of upskilling and training your staff, and also to increase retention. And that is so important because it cost a lot of money to hire and train your employees and you want to invest in this asset.
Linh Tu, owner and CEO
The Solution
PPC worked with Workforce Solutions and Austin Community College to train PPC’s Licensed Vocational Nurses:
Upskill into Registered Nurses: PPC employees took a two-year training, which results in a certification, with ACC.
Provide flexible schedules: PPC adjusted employees’ work schedules around their training to ensure they were never placed in a financial burden while learning.
Reach a younger generation of nurses: PPC’s participation in this program demonstrates the company’s commitment to investing in their nurses’ career progression.
Overcoming Challenges and Investing in Workforce
Growing the skill sets of employees is a valuable investment for businesses to ensure they have the qualified talent they need. Incumbent Worker Training helps overcome challenges to start upskilling.
Outcomes/Benefits
Many of PCC’s employees are single parents. Offering a flexible training schedule to upskill improves the quality of life for employees and patients alike, while increasing wages for working nurses. For PPC, participating in this program ensures the company has a qualified workforce to meet growing demand and changes in the healthcare industry.
Read our report for curated research and trends on stable housing and workforce outcomes.
Key takeaway: Research suggests the outcomes of stable housing efforts can be improved when combined with workforce development efforts. Through workforce services, individuals/parents who are experiencing homelessness or housing insecurity can have more success in job training and employment.
This report details closure rates among providers in Travis County, as well as ways Workforce Solutions Capital Area supported the families of Austin’s essential workers and our child care providers through quality initiative activities and additional CARES Act funding payments.
In 2020, Workforce Solutions Capital Area became the first responder for employment.
In a matter of days, a declining unemployment rate that had lasted for years spiked into the double digits due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Workforce Solutions quickly pivoted to a virtual space to assist all impacted members of our community—students, workers, parents, businesses and more—in a safe and effective way.
The Austin metro area is now one of the fastest recovering in the nation, with many industries experiencing job growth. Our hard work and our partnerships help to make it possible.
To help build a highly skilled workforce in Texas, the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) offers programs like the Skills Development Fund (SDF). This upskilling program provides site-specific, customized training opportunities for Texas businesses and their employees. In 2020, TWC launched the SDF COVID-19 Special Initiative to provide companies rapid training as the workforce shifted. One company seeking to increase skill levels and wages with the SDF Special Initiative is MoboTrex.
MoboTrex is a manufacturing and distribution company for traffic control products. The company is headquartered in Iowa and has facilities around the country, with the primary manufacturing facility in Austin. At this location, MoboTrex builds everything from traffic and pedestrian signals to cabinets for electronics. More than 100 people work at the Austin facility.
Leveraging SDF for virtual supervisory training In 2020, MoboTrex applied for a Supervisor Training grant through SDF, with assistance from Workforce Solutions Capital Area and Austin Regional Manufacturers Association. Four employees graduated the training in February 2021. MoboTrex values internal training and continued to offer it to employees despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Staci Lange, Chief Operating Officer.
The doors for this opportunity first opened in fall 2020 when Staci was contacted by Amber Warne, Director of Upskilling and Advancement for Workforce Solutions Capital Area.
“Our busy season had just wrapped up and I thought this was great because we have a number of workers who can use this training,” Staci said. “We had stopped training when COVID19 hit, so I asked if we could do this later. Amber said yes and set it up. She was very helpful with the forms and made this a seamless process.”
The trainer contacted Staci to help schedule the training and prepare all materials in advance. “Initiating a training usually requires more administrative overhead, but this was seamless,” Staci said.
Upskilling teams at no cost The supervisory training was held virtually over eight weeks—four hours a day, two days a week by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center (TMAC). Topics included how to manage employees and what operations supervisors need to know day-to-day.
“The feedback I got from those who participated was positive,” Staci said. “They said they learned a lot.”
The pandemic had forced businesses like MoboTrex to pause employee development initiatives like supervisory training, but with SDF and assistance from Workforce Solutions, the initiatives could resume.
What would MoboTrex have done if this funding wasn’t available?
“We probably wouldn’t have been able to offer the training. We have a nice training facility onsite, but we shut down most of our training for social distancing,” Staci said.
“If you don’t have internal resources, or due to COVID you can’t use them in a regular manner, then the remote nature of this training will be particularly helpful. If you are onboarding your supervisors and they need training, then it is something to look at,” said Staci.
“So much of our training is an interactive process. We want to grow and develop our employees, not just check off a box,” said Staci.
“If other opportunities to upskill our team at no cost present themselves, we are definitely interested in pursuing them. We appreciate the offer: it was well received and a well-done investment.”
Upgrade your workforce’s skills with Workforce Solutions Capital Area Is your organization seeking no-cost opportunities to sharpen your workers’ skills? Workforce Solutions can help! Visit our Employee Skills Training page to start and download your copy of the Upskilling Toolkit to learn how upskilling your employees can help develop your talent!
When the COVID-19 pandemic swept into Austin in spring 2020, local businesses small and large were impacted. Many businesses closed their doors, but others sought support to continue operations and keep their people working. One of these businesses was Austin Creative Reuse (ACR), a nonprofit with a mission to foster conservation and reuse through creativity, education, and community building.
ACR operates a creative reuse center in East Austin, selling gently used creative materials donated from residents and businesses. ACR also offers workshops to educate Austinites about reuse and helps promote local artists, said Jenn Evans, Executive Director.
“Just as the pandemic hit, we expanded into a new location in the Windsor Park neighborhood,” Jenn said.
“I attended a webinar hosted by Mission Capital in the early days of the pandemic, where Amber Warne, the Director of Upskilling and Advancement at Workforce Solutions, spoke about Rapid Response programs for employers,” said Jenn. “I reached out after the event, and Amber and several of her colleagues were kind enough to meet with me to discuss ACR’s immediate needs.”
Most of ACR’s employees are retail clerks, an occupation with limited work-from-home options. The Board of Directors committed to paying all staff for the hours they would have worked during the closure with the organization’s emergency funds, but those funds were quickly depleted.
ACR applied for and received Layoff Aversion funding, which “allowed us to make the investments necessary to safely operate a small retail business in the time of COVID,” Jenn said. “These investments keep our staff, customers and donors safe. Reducing the risk of exposure also increases the likelihood that, once opened, the center will be able to stay open.”
“ACR would like to extend our deepest thanks to everyone at Workforce Solutions Capital Area.”
Jenn evans
With funding in hand, ACR purchased sanitization supplies and services to maintain a safe environment for staff and customers, equipment like utility carts and bay door screens for safe and contactless collection of donations, and technology to allow more staff to work remotely.
ACR also purchased equipment to expand a new online store and launch sidewalk sales. This provided safe alternate means for customers to shop while ACR prepared to reopen the center, according to Jenn.
Sales are rebounding at ACR.
“Workforce Solutions Capital Area has been an amazing partner during this chapter. All Workforce Solutions staff – and Amber Warne, in particular – were deeply supportive in helping ACR to plan our re-opening needs and use the Layoff Aversion funds wisely and responsively to the ever-changing COVID environment,” Jenn said.
“Austin-area businesses and non-profits are lucky to have such a great local partner in Workforce Solutions Capital Area,” she added.
ACR reopened the interior of the center on August 20—after being closed for five months, their doors were open again.
“The Layoff Aversion funding allowed ACR to orchestrate a staged re-opening of our center that was both responsive to the needs of our staff and our customers and reflective of the developing risks posed by COVID-19 in Central Texas,” Jenn said.
“The funding allowed us to quickly pivot to alternate ways for our community to shop with us while the center was closed, such as sidewalks sales, personal shopping and our new online store,” said Jenn. “These new funding streams both offered much needed revenue and allowed us to get creative materials back into the community at a time when they were needed most.”
ACR applied funding toward purchasing equipment to make shopping safe for staff and customers.
ACR is open four days a week and at significantly lower capacity, but sales are rebounding. Earlier in October, ACR celebrated the fifth anniversary of opening of Austin’s first and only creative reuse center.
ACR is also celebrating their growing workforce: “We hired our 19th staff member the week of October 19, up from 14 when we applied for the Layoff Aversion Program in May,” Jenn said.
With center sales as ACR’s primary source of income, reopening the center and generating revenue was the only path toward long-term viability of the organization. The Layoff Aversion funding allowed ACR to make the investments necessary to safely operate a small business in the time of COVID.
Without those investments, it would have been very difficult for us to reopen the center. We certainly would not have been able to hire new staff and would most likely have needed to reduce hours for existing staff or face layoffs,” Jenn said.
“ACR would like to extend our deepest thanks to everyone at Workforce Solutions Capital Area. This funding was instrumental in allowing us to keep our entire staff working during the five months that our center was closed to the public,” Jenn said. “We look forward to continuing to work with your team on upskilling, professional development, staff recruitment and more!”
Workforce Solutions Capital Area can assist Central Texas employers impacted by COVID-19 If you are a business or CBO facing a layoff or closure, we can offer outplacement assistance, layoff aversion strategies, and potential financial assistance at no cost.
Visit our website to learn about resources to assist you in responding to economic changes related to concerns about COVID-19.
Leveraging SDF for virtual supervisory training
Upskilling teams at no cost
