The Department of Agriculture is seeking applications to support regional economic development planning efforts in rural communities under the Rural Economic Development Innovation (REDI) initiative.
The Department has identified the availability of $750,000 in competitive cooperative agreement funds in fiscal year (FY) 2018.
The Department encourages applications that will support recommendations made in the Rural Prosperity Task Force report to help improve life in rural America ( www.usda.gov/ruralprosperity ). Applicants are encouraged to consider projects that provide measurable results in helping rural communities build robust and sustainable economies through strategic investments in infrastructure, partnerships, and innovation. Key strategies include:
- Achieving e-Connectivity for Rural America.
- Developing the Rural Economy.
- Harnessing Technological Innovation.
- Supporting a Rural Workforce.
- Improving Quality of Life.
Applicant Eligibility: Federally-recognized Tribes, institutions of higher education, nonprofit organizations, or private organizations with a demonstrated national structure and/or capacity to deliver and support multiple rural planning activities across the nation are eligible applicants.
The deadline for receipt of a complete application is midnight Eastern Standard Time on Wednesday, September 5, via www.grants.gov .
See: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-08-17/pdf/2018-17765.pdf
IMLS Seeks to Support Projects to Strengthen Ability of Small Libraries to Serve Their Community Needs
Reference: In June 2010, the Employment and Training Administration announced a partnership with IMLS with the issuance of Training and Employment Notice 50-09 (Encouraging Partnerships between the Workforce Investment System and Public Libraries to Meet Career and Employment Needs) , and reaffirmed that partnership encouragement in May 2016 with the publication of Training and Employment Notice 35-15 .
The goal of the Institute of Museum and Library Services' "Accelerating Promising Practice for Small Libraries (APPS-L)" is to support projects that strengthen the ability of small libraries to serve their community. This initiative would specifically support small libraries by funding relevant activities in specific topical areas that are clearly linked to an individual institution's broader community needs.
IMLS has published a PRA notice in the August 15 Federal Register seeking review and comment of the forms and instructions for the Notice of Funding Opportunity for the next three years.
Comments are due October 12.
See: https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-08-16/pdf/2018-17640.pdf
NASWA Discusses Features of Its Partnership with LinkedIn; Notes Release of "Economic Graph" Video; Outlines Plans to Inform the Public Workforce System on Projects and Future Developments; Invites Suggestions from State Workforce Agencies
An advisory from the National Association of State Workforce Agencies
LinkedIn has recently released a video as part of their work on the Economic Graph. The Economic Graph is a digital representation of the global economy based on 560 million members, 50 thousand skills, 20 million companies, 15 million open jobs, and 60 thousand schools. In short: it's all the data on LinkedIn.
As a result of our partnership on the National Labor Exchange (NLx) with DirectEmployers, NASWA has been in frequent contact with LinkedIn for over five years and we formalized those discussions with a partnership in 2017. That partnership has the following key features:
- State job bank openings are available to all LinkedIn users via the NLx.
- Custom-built training and tools for state agency staff and self-service customers has been created by LinkedIn on how to effectively conduct online networking.
- LinkedIn will keep state workforce leaders up-to-date on their projects and future developments in the workforce space.
Over the past year, NASWA and LinkedIn have held webinars and rolled out customized training for the public workforce system. We plan on using the video to help promote awareness of the public workforce system. We welcome any suggestions on how NASWA can continue our work with LinkedIn to further the role of State Workforce Agencies.
Credential Engine to Hold Demonstration of Upcoming Applications on September 5
An advisory from the Credential Engine:
To demonstrate how the Credential Registry can help students, educators, employers and more access the data they need to stay competitive and build successful career pathways, join us on September 5 at 2 pm Eastern for a showcase of our upcoming applications.
Presenting organizations include:
- Innovate + Educate
- CourseNetworking
This webcast is part of an ongoing series of presentations by our application partners. Please stay tuned for additional information about future webinars later this year!
Additional background / registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/credential-engine-application-showcase-september-5-2018-tickets-48739420920