Since Gov. Walker signed legislation in March to enact the Wisconsin Fast Forward initiative, the Department of Workforce Development (DWD) has moved quickly to launch the Office of Skills Development (OSD) and lay the regulatory groundwork for a nimble, adaptive and accountable system to advance innovative worker training programs.

Rulemaking

DWD’s initial public comment period for proposed Wisconsin Fast Forward administrative rules, DWD 801, recently concluded. The proposed rules will frame key elements and address issues such as:

• Criteria to award grants, including written proposals and evaluation standards.
• The extent to which matching funds will be required.
• Required reports to document spending activities and report outcomes.

DWD will incorporate public comments in an economic impact analysis it prepares and submits along with a proposed rule package to the Wisconsin Legislative Council. The public hearing for this rule will be on Monday July 15th at 10:00 at DWD.

Office of Skills Development

DWD has recently launched the Office of Skills Development (OSD). Part of OSD’s charge is to provide timely and relevant information about the Wisconsin Fast Forward initiative to employers, training organizations and other stakeholders. However, the broader mission of OSD is to be responsive to emerging labor needs identified by employers, and to provide resources that help employers meet these needs without duplicating efforts and resources that are either already exist or are ongoing.

OSD has launched a landing page on DWD’s website at http://dwd.wisconsin.gov/osd that will serve as a resource for the latest information about this initiative and provide a means to submit questions and ideas on how DWD can make Wisconsin Fast Forward as effective as possible.