Workforce Development Vote Comes Amid Criticism of Current Program

Bill would let Montgomery County choose new agencies for job training, placement

By Kate Masters

Montgomery County’s workforce development agency is failing vulnerable workers, according to the County Council, which passed a bill that would allow it to hire other agencies to do the job.

Under legislation unanimously approved Tuesday, the council could choose both a nonprofit corporation and a public educational institution, such as Montgomery College, to lead workforce development in the county. Previously, the council had to name a single nonprofit to take on the responsibility.

The move comes amid widespread dissatisfaction with WorkSource Montgomery, the county’s current — and sole — agency for linking county residents with job training and employment.

Some council members say the organization isn’t accomplishing basic tasks such as linking low-skill workers with training and certification programs. Others faulted WorkSource Montgomery for a perceived failure to connect with service industry employers, including a major hotel chain that opened in eastern Montgomery County.

“I’m completely frustrated and just so— done,” Council Member Craig Rice said at Tuesday’s session. “This is just the start. I am sick and tired of seeing missteps that are jeopardizing people in our community.”

Until 2015, workforce development was a division of the Department of Economic Development, said Council Member Hans Riemer, a co-sponsor of the bill. But in October of that year, the council outsourced the responsibility to a nonprofit corporation.

Then-County Executive Ike Leggett introduced the initiative, which he described as a way to streamline workforce development to benefit both workers and employers.

WorkSource Montgomery was quickly established to take on the role, and the agency hired its first executive director — Ellie Giles — in March 2016, according to board Chair Ted Rose.

One of the agency’s responsibilities is allocating federal funding through the 2014 Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act (WIOA). The act emphasizes job training based on the industries in the area and finding employment for more vulnerable workers, including those with limited skills or disabilities.

Rose opposed the new legislation in July at a public hearing on the bill, which he described as unnecessary. Over the past three years, WorkSource Montgomery has established 19 new career pathway programs and overseen an increase in local WIOA participation, he wrote in a letter to the council.

Neither Giles nor Rose was immediately available on Tuesday to comment on the council’s decision to turn to other agencies.

Multiple council members are concerned that WorkSource Montgomery isn’t doing enough to help low-skill workers. In a phone interview before Tuesday’s meeting, Rice said his office has received dozens of calls from workers who had difficulty finding classes or earning certifications in technical fields.

“We had one man who wanted to be an electrician and said it took him an additional six months to earn his certification because of the lack of programming,” Rice said. The agency has had even less success boosting employment in eastern parts of the county, he added — an area with a minority population and greater numbers of vulnerable workers.

“They couldn’t even get someone hired at the local Home Depot,” Rice said. “To me, it’s just insane that there was zero success.”

Council Member Will Jawando said he developed similar concerns over the agency’s leadership when he worked with WorkSource Montgomery as a contractor for the Summer RISE program, which links students to jobs with local companies such as Kaiser Permanente.

The experience made him doubt the agency’s ability to serve underrepresented communities, including former inmates, and establish a clear direction in leadership, he added.

Concerns over future leadership have heightened since Giles announced her plans to leave the agency by the end of the year, Rice said at a committee meeting for the bill on Sept. 12.

Both he and Council President Nancy Navarro have suggested that the council might not renew WorkSource Montgomery’s contract. But Riemer said it’s more likely that the council would push the agency to focus on underserved populations while designating a new organization to link skilled workers with jobs in the area.

“I don’t think the purpose of the bill was necessarily to say, ‘Oh, we want to replace you,’” he said after the vote. “But I think there is great interest in seeing if [Montgomery College] or some other entity could take the lead in industry development.”