The Workforce Investment Act calls for a complete system overhaul, and in many communities, this transformation of the system is a work in progress, which will continue to evolve over the coming years. WIA identifies Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) and One-Stops as instruments to address these employment sector goals:

• Meeting the employment needs of local business;
• Improving outreach and service to under-represented, under-employed, and marginalized populations;
• Building on educational programming from kindergarten to post-secondary;
• Fostering economic development;
• Creating a comprehensive vision for workforce development in communities;
• Branding the workforce system to improve awareness and value among all customers and stakeholders; and
• Leading the public to understand the need for a new type of workforce to meet the economic realities of this century.

No individual organizations can accomplish these objectives alone. Coordination among economic development authorities, the private sector, community-based organizations, and the educational and labor communities is critical to the effectiveness of the local workforce system. WIB members can be pivotal in developing a collaborative system which draws from and builds on local strengths, and One-Stop Career Centers provide a centralized point where the needs and strengths of local service providers, businesses, and prospective employees can meet. To the extent that this system can marshal its federal resources and partnerships to find the common ground among these populations, it can fill critical labor gaps and enhance the likelihood that unemployed individuals will make a meaningful contribution to their communities and the economy.