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Plan <br />employment projects and create jobs at all levels of the educational attainment spectrum — from entry-level to executive <br />positions, The.data analysis illustrates the need for county policymakers to channel OC Region residents toward these <br />lucrative positions through both traditional education and training programs as well as industry partnerships that provide <br />jobseekers with hands -on experience. <br />Ocriarat,icn: The OC Region has identified priority high -value industry sectors and developed a plan that is responsive to <br />industry voiced demands and data supported needs in the region. The regional assessment creates opportunities to develop <br />and support industry relevant post - secondary and industry- recognized certificates, training programs, OJT and <br />apprenticeships for these identified priority sectors as a start to building an integrated regional sector pathways system. <br />Regional GoallObjective: Targeted and meaningful business and industry engagement to improve access and quality <br />of demand - driven programs organized around regional sector pathways In high -value industries. <br />strategy: Support regional sector pathway development by offering in- demand trainingleducation to create pathways to <br />higher wage occupations that will influence workers' upward mobility to employment in higher paying jobs and careers, <br />designating local AJCCs as on -ramps or gateways to programs /services (further defined In respective local area plans). <br />State Plan A 11 g n m a n t: Aligning educaflon/training with industry needs to support regional sector and career pathways. <br />ASSESSMENT OF EXISTING TRAINING AND EDUCATION PROGRAMS AmajorsourceoTtunaingrorexlsting <br />training and education programs in the OC Region comes from the California Career Pathways Trust grant, which awarded <br />the Orange County Career Pathways Partnership (OCCPP) and California Community Colleges Doing What Matters <br />workforce taskforce. These entities were tasked with building a countywide infrastructure to foster the development of <br />workforce programs that aligned educational institutions with local businesses. <br />Recent surveys assessed the progress of career and technical education (CTE) programs and the overall status of workforce <br />training and education programs in the region. The surveys performed qualitative research on existing training and education <br />programs by gathering input from the Orange County Community College CTE Deans and Faculty, Orange County <br />Community College career center representatives and local businesses representing small, medium and large -size <br />businesses. The report showed that current efforts are falling short of meeting regional needs. Local businesses provided <br />feedback that a general lack of coordination with community colleges led to poor participation in existing programs. <br />Businesses acknowledged that they did not have enough understanding or familiarity with the partnership process to justify <br />allocation of resources to the effort. <br />In addition to the education system, the Orange County Region AJCC One -Stop system offers workforce training allowable <br />under WIOA. The local area One -Stop Centers strive to serve WIOA eligible Adult, Dislocated Workers and Youth with training <br />options including Individual Training Accounts (ITA), On- the -Job Training (OJT), Customized Training, Incumbent Worker <br />Training (IWT) and Transitional Jobs opportunities. Initial feedback from businesses interested in on-the-job training (OJT), <br />Incumbent Worker Training and apprenticeships report that they are wary of the logistics involved in coordinating repetitiously <br />with three local boards whose policies and processes differ. <br />Inter - agency policy discrepancies and a lack of coordination among the community colleges and within the three local boards' <br />results in reduced referral and linkage of customers to relevant education and training programs, creating unnecessary <br />obstacles that limit effectiveness. Accessibility and customer choice are impacted by a lack of process and policy alignment <br />and creates uneven access to services that vary sometimes based on customer geography and sometimes based on lack of <br />existing contracts with desired training providers/programs. Duplication of services and discrepancies in costs create <br />additional challenges that confuse customers, limit regional coordination, and impact training. <br />Page 15 <br />19D -30 <br />