Newsletter  Issue 1
February 2016
The West Region Transportation Workforce Center is pleased to release its inaugural newsletter. Please check out our website (wrtwc.org) for the most up to date news and activities.
 
The work of the Center is about you! Please help us to highlight your good work and to share successful practices and resources with your colleagues throughout the region as we all strive together to build a skilled and right-sized transportation workforce.  If you know of valuable resources or practices that have been successful in your community, contact us and we will be happy to share them with the wider network.  Looking for connections with educators, practitioners in the industry, or workforce advocates to bring a great idea to fruition? Contact us! We are here as a networking and communication hub to help enable new partnership efforts. Our mission is to facilitate connections, and to share and leverage resources to help you turn your great ideas into reality. Please call or email our Center point of contact, Susan Gallagher, at (406)994-6559 or [email protected].  
In This Issue
Center Activities and Products
Clearinghouse

The Center is pleased to announce the release of its searchable online clearinghouse. You can now access information on over a thousand transportation-related programs in our region, including degree and certificate programs, scholarships, internships and other work-based learning opportunities, and K-12 career exposure opportunities. This is a work in progress. If you know of a program that you don't see in our listing, let us know and we will be happy to add it.
Regional Needs Assessment

The  Center recently completed a comprehensive Job Needs and Priorities Report, which provides: a broad overview of the transportation industry and workforce in the West Region; an analysis of labor market data on transportation industries and occupations in the region, and a synthesis of stakeholder feedback on workforce priorities and concerns. The report identifies 10 priority occupations based on regional industry drivers, labor market data, and stakeholder input, and highlights common needs region-wide that warrant focused attention from the Center. 

The full report and executive summary can be accessed from the WRTWC website.

Strategic Action Plans

The Center is now beginning work on a Phase 2 report, which will showcase the programs or partnerships needed to address regional workforce priorities. To set the agenda for Phase 2, our Stakeholder Engagement Group met on February 1 to provide input on regional strategic action plans needed to address needs.  We also welcome input from our wider network. Please feel free to contact us with your ideas.

Upcoming Webinars
There are a number of webinars coming up over the next two months that will be of interest to transportation workforce advocates. Check the links to register!
Innovative Transportation, Distribution and Logistics Partnerships Webinar

The Southwest Transportation Workforce Center (SWTWC) and the National Association of State Directors for Career and Technical Education (NASDCTE) will offer a co-sponsored webinar, "Innovative Transportation, Distribution and Logistics Partnerships," on Wednesday, February 24 from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM Mountain Time. The webinar will feature teachers, administrators, and industry partners who will provide insights and best practices from innovative education programs and teaching models for grades 6 to 12 students when delivering transportation-related curricula.
Developing the Transportation Talent Pipeline Webinar

The Transportation Research Board Education and Training (ABG20) Committee and the National Network for the Transportation Workforce are jointly sponsoring a webinar "Developing the Transportation Talent Pipeline," on Tuesday, March 15, 2016, 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM Mountain Time. The webinar is free and open to the public, but is limited to 100 participants. The webinar will feature a panel discussion that will help leaders from business and industry, economic development, education, and workforce development learn about proven strategies for enhancing employer competitiveness and profitability through improved access to skilled workers.
An Overview of the Factors and Processes to Increase Organization Safety Culture

The National Center for Rural Road Safety (Safety Center) and NCHRP will be co-sponsoring a FREE webinar, "An Overview of the Factors and Processes to Increase Organization Safety Culture," on March 22, 2016 from 9:00 AM to 10:30 AM Mountain Time. This webinar will provide an overview of NCHRP funded Domestic Scan 14-03 that examined the factors and processes that can support the success of developing a strong safety culture in transportation safety agencies. 

Other News
National Network for the Transportation Workforce (NNTW)

The National Network for the Transportation Workforce (made up of the five regional centers) jointly presented on the Phase 1 Regional Job Needs and Priorities reports during the 2016 Transportation Research Board Meeting in Washington, DC. To access the presentation and national synthesis summary, visit the NNTW website .  
E-Week
 
National Engineers Week is coming up February 21-27 and offers a great opportunity to reach out to youth to get them excited about future career opportunities! Thinking about jumpstarting something with kids, parents, or educators in your community but not sure how to get started?  There are great resources available out there to help you.

Visit DiscoverE, for tips and ideas:

There are two great online resources for finding transportation-specific lesson plans and ideas:

The website http://transportationcareers.org/searchable-lesson-plans/ provides standards-based lesson plans integrating science, technology, engineering, and math content in a hands-on, problem-based format set within a transportation context.

The Mid-America Transportation Center also provides an online searchable database of teacher resources and STEM lesson plans on transportation topics for a variety of grade levels at:  http://tse.unl.edu/trc/lesson_plans.php
 
Are you planning an outreach event in your community?  We'd like to hear about it!