TEGL04-11.pdf

ETA Advisory File Text

- 2 - ETA developed a PRA package for OMB approval to continue the approved information collection for the formula-funded LMI WI grants beyond its expiration date. Until ETA receives new notification of approval from OMB the above- approved information collection request for the Workforce Information Grants to States WIGS will automatically continue on a month-to-month basis. This interim continuance is necessary per 5 CFR 1320.5 b as an agency cannot conduct sponsor or require a response to a collection of information unless the collection displays a valid OMB Control Number. 4. Background . For the 2010 program year TEGL No. 3-10 stressed the importance of leveraging the WI grants expanding partnerships within the workforce investment system and in the education and economic development communities. Additionally state LMI entities were encouraged to join partnerships to apply for competitive grants since every employment and training enterprise can benefit from the workforce and labor market information economic analyses and the workforce intelligence gained from interpretation of the data within the context of the state regional and local economies. These all remain as important themes that ETA will expect states to continue and expand upon as the LMI WI core and special information grants to states begin the 2011 program year. In the 2010 LMI WI program year guidance state LMI shops and research entities were urged to be ready to shape state policy and service delivery strategies based on a strong understanding of their current labor markets and expected areas of economic growth. The need for good comparable workforce data information and analysis has always been high. The Great Recession and its continuing effects on many state and local economies elevates the importance of LMI and its ability to stimulate positive impacts. State LMI WI offices and economic research entities can help their states plan for the future and respond appropriately to the direction of local business and regional economies and meet state workforce needs. 5. Workforce Information Goal and Objectives . The goal for the Workforce Information Grants to States for 2011 is to continue to support increased employment and sustainable economic growth by supporting state and local workforce system planning and transformational efforts begun in 2010. States through their LMI WI research entities must provide sound foundational data information and resources to workforce system staff and job seekers so that these customers can make informed decisions about the services training and career decisions that lead to good jobs. States should also provide actionable information and sound research to state and local policy makers to support the development of data-driven policies and program designs. - 3 - ETA expects state WI grantees to use their PY 2011 workforce information funding to continue informing state and local planning and customer decision-making by 1. Populating the Workforce Information Database WIDb with state and local data 2. Producing and disseminating industry and occupational employment projections 3. Conducting and publishing relevant economic analyses special workforce information and or economic studies determined to be of benefit to the governor and state and local WIBs 4. Posting products information and reports on the Internet and 5. Partnering and consulting on a continuing basis with workforce investment boards and other key workforce and economic development partners and stakeholders. State LMI WI offices and research entities should continue to seek out viable partnership and customer service opportunities that enable the leveraging of limited WI program resources. ETA National Office LMI WI staff will continue to facilitate assist and support linkages between the state LMI WI offices and research entities and ETA formula-funded and competitive grant funded programs as mutually beneficial partnerships can lead to the attainment of needed resources and program outcomes for all. 6. Partnership Expectations . ETA-funded state workforce information grantees are required to consult with their strategic partners to increase the scope and utility of the workforce information used to inform sound state and local policies workforce and regional economic development strategies and to enhance the availability and use of career guidance and resources by workforce system staff and job seekers. Therefore workforce information grantees are to actively collaborate and partner with their state and local workforce investment boards economic development agencies education and training institutions business groups industry associations and labor organizations in order to assure that the workforce information tools developed and provided with PY 2011 workforce information grant funding are those that meet identified needs. 7. Funding and Leveraging Resources . ETA provides formula allocated workforce information grants to states to produce at a minimum the core products and services required by Attachment III of this guidance and to develop other workforce information products and services which are required to support the state and local workforce systems. - 4 - Due to a 0.2 across-the-board Congressional budget rescission for ETA programs enacted in the spring of 2011 a total of 31 936 000 will be available for PY 2011 minus 176 646 allocated in total to Guam and the Virgin Islands. ETA will distribute the remaining amount of 31 759 354 by formula to states and the District of Columbia with 40 percent distributed equally to all states and 60 percent distributed based on each state s relative share of the civilian labor force for the 12- month period ending September 2010 see Attachment I for the table of state allocations . Leveraging Opportunities with ETA Funded Programs With the above-noted decrease in available funding for PY 2011 LMI WI production analysis and dissemination it is now even more important for state LMI WI offices and research entities to continuously seek out and maintain collaborative relationships with a variety of internal and external program partners. Collaborative relationships particularly when actualized using the partnership expectations discussed above can help states access and leverage additional resources or new funding sources while still ensuring that data-driven analysis underpins all workforce investment programs and planning. 8. State Certification of Required Grant Deliverables . States must submit a grant Statement of Work SOW Certification see Attachment IV affirming that all five deliverables required by the grant SOW Guidelines see Attachment III will be accomplished during PY 2011. The certification must be signed by the governor or by both the State Workforce Agency SWA administrator and the chairperson of the State Workforce Investment Board SWIB . This annual SOW Certification meets OMB requirements for assuring that the LMI WI program funds allocated to each state are used to support the development and production of the deliverables intended. If circumstances prevent accomplishment of a specific grant deliverable during PY 2011 the state must negotiate a deferral with the ETA Regional Administrator including attaching as an addendum the reasons for delay and a proposed completion date. The ETA regional office will document planned grant activities and grant accomplishments in the state s grant file and those records will be made accessible per 29 CFR 97.42 e 1 for examination by ETA or other authorized Federal representatives. 9. Accountability . ETA will assess and document the effectiveness of grantee performance through the following approach a. ETA Grant Reviews. The ETA regional offices will conduct periodic reviews of states progress towards meeting the PY 2011 certified grant deliverables the degree to which collaboration with the SWIB and other partners exists and quarterly reviews of grant expenditures and obligations. - 5 - b. Performance Reporting. In 2005 ETA implemented common measures reporting and revised Wagner-Peyser and WIA program reporting requirements to include the provision of workforce information services WIS and the impact of those services on participant outcomes. State LMI offices and research entities should be aware that ETA captures and uses state reported data on the Entered Employment Rate Employment Retention Rate after Six Months and Earnings for participants following receipt of workforce information services as a performance indicator on workforce system use of LMI and WI to help job seekers secure and retain employment. For PY 2011 ETA will continue to monitor the workforce system outcomes of participants who received workforce information services. State LMI WI offices and research entities can benefit from helping their state Wagner-Peyser and WIA program providers better identify and better report on participants who received workforce information services. c. Annual Performance Report. Grantees are required to submit an annual performance report for the workforce information grant 29 CFR 97.40 b 1 signed by both the SWA administrator and the SWIB chairperson or the governor as specified in Attachment V Section A. The report must include a description of outcomes compared to certified grant deliverables and where appropriate an explanation as to why a grant deliverable was not accomplished and what will be done to ensure completion. States are encouraged to view and use the annual report grant deliverable as an opportunity to communicate to ETA. The report narrative should highlight overall program activities and include a summary of the results of the grantee s customer consultations regarding state workforce information products and services and a summary of activities to be undertaken to add customer value where needs for improvements are indicated. The narrative should also describe the creation and support of partnerships and collaborations during the program year along with any resulting tools or resources developed and recommendations to ETA for changes and improvements to the required WI grant deliverables. All state annual reports are reviewed for acceptance and approval by the ETA regional LMI WI Federal Project Officers FPOs . ETA expects the annual reports to be fully representative of the state s work and consist of more than just a compilation of state workforce information products. Interested parties may access PY 2009 and prior year WI annual reports at http www.doleta.gov Programs 2009ReportsAndPlans eta default.cfm . - 6 - Grantees must electronically submit the WI annual performance report as an accessible Section 508 compliant .pdf file to the appropriate ETA regional office 90 days following the end of the program year. As stated earlier ETA will post the annual performance reports on the ETA Web site for state sharing and informing the system and public of overall WI grant program performance. States should be aware that .pdf copies of all documents submitted to ETA for Web posting must meet the Federal accessibility requirements stated by Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as amended 29 U.S.C. 794d . See www.section508.gov for more information. States unable to convert or unsure of their ability to convert their annual report and economic analyses grant deliverables to meet Section 508 .pdf accessibility standards should instead submit them to ETA in Microsoft MS Word or an equivalent text format. ETA will convert all forwarded state files to meet Federal accessibility standards prior to public posting. 10. Consultation and Customer Satisfaction Assessment . Section 15 of the Wagner- Peyser Act as amended by WIA Section 309 Pub. L. 105-220 29 U.S.C. 49 requires states to consult with customers about the relevance of the labor market information disseminated through the state workforce information system. ETA interprets customers to include workforce and educational system stakeholders business and regional economic development leadership within the state and other strategic partners that foster workforce development. Consultation with the workforce investment system and other customers and information users provides the basis for formulating continuous improvement strategies for workforce information. ETA does not prescribe an approach or methodology for conducting customer consultations. Methods can include focus groups surveys crowd sourcing and online feedback Webinars listening sessions documented consultations customer satisfaction assessments or other methods considered appropriate by the state. 11. Special Grant Requirements . Funds provided by this award may not be used to supplant funds obligated from other funding sources for workforce information activities. All costs incurred under the grant must support the cost objectives specified in Section 5 of this guidance and must conform to the principles for reasonable and allocable costs as specified in OMB Circular A-87. All data collection activities must conform to the technical standards and methodologies established by the Bureau of Labor Statistics or document in the state s grant file a sound business rationale for the use of an alternative methodology. - 7 - In the conduct of LMI WI information technology IT systems and applications ETA recognizes that Web-based tools will be used for service delivery. Any IT system or application developed with WI grant funds must adhere to industry- standard open architecture principles with documentation and software made available for use by other organizations for Federal government purposes. 12. Publications and Other Information Products . Grantees are required to submit .pdf copies or links to .pdf copies of required economic analyses special workforce information or economic studies to meet deliverable 3 to the appropriate regional office 90 calendar days following the end of the program year. As with the annual reports any state economic analyses special workforce information or economic studies submitted to meet WI program deliverable 3 must also meet Section 508 Web posting requirements. States are encouraged to review the wide range and formats of the annual state economic analysis reports approved and posted by ETA since PY 2006. These reports are located at http www.doleta.gov Programs 2009ReportsAndPlans eta default.cfm . Grantees are also requested to submit .pdf documents or links to .pdf copies of publications and other products produced with WI grant funding that are considered to be of special interest to the workforce investment system to the appropriate regional office. Examples of products of special interest include industry-specific research and analysis state brochures describing the availability and functionality of electronic self-service tools documentation of innovative applications developed for database access or manipulation or innovative workforce information services available to workforce system staff and customers. 13. Grant Expenditure Period . The maximum expenditure period for these funds is three years under the Wagner-Peyser Annual Funding Agreement. The grant will cover at a minimum the 12-month period from July 1 2011 to June 30 2012 but may if negotiated between the state and the ETA regional office cover a longer period of time up to the maximum expenditure period ending June 30 2014. 14. Grant Modifications . The grantee and the ETA regional office may jointly modify planned expenditures within the state allocation during the grant period of performance. The regional office has authority to recommend the reallocation of grant funds to the ETA grant officer when overall grant expenditures and obligations are substantially below quarterly budgeted forecasts. 15. Financial Management and Reporting . States should forecast actual cash needs by program year quarter on Standard Form SF 424A Section D for all quarters - 8 - covered by the grant. State workforce agencies will report quarterly expenditures by direct data entry of the ETA 9130 Financial Cost Report into the Web-based Enterprise Business Support System EBSS . Per 29 CFR 97.41 b 4 quarterly financial reports are due 30 days following the end of each quarter. Address any questions regarding financial management and reporting for PY 2011 or for any existing prior year fund balances to the appropriate ETA regional office. 16. Action Requested . Grant applications are due to the regional offices within 45 days of the date of this guidance. A submission date later than 45 days may be approved by ETA Regional Administrators. ETA requests that SWA Administrators a. Immediately transmit these grant application instructions to the appropriate SWA office s and the SWIB b. Submit the original and two 2 copies of the PY 2011 grant application package with a transmittal letter signed by 1 the governor or 2 both the SWA administrator and the chairperson of the state SWIB to the appropriate ETA regional office and c. Include in the grant application package 1. Transmittal Letter 2. Application for Federal Assistance SF-424 3. Budget Plan SF-424A Section D only 4. Statement of Work Certification 17. Inquiries . Direct questions on the statement of work and grant requirements to the appropriate ETA regional office. Direct grant and financial management questions to the regional office or to Gwendolyn Baron-Simms at 202 693-3309 or to Thomas Martin Grant Officer at 202 693-2989. 18. Attachments . I. State Allocations for PY 2011 II. Grant Procedures III. Statement of Work Guidelines IV. Statement of Work Certification V. Annual Performance Report Instructions U. S. Department of Labor Attachment I Employment and Training Administration Workforce Information Grants to States PY 2011 vs PY 2010 Allotments State PY 2010 PY 2011 Difference Difference Total 32 000 000 31 936 000 64 000 -0.20 Alabama 505 992 500 647 5 345 -1.06 Alaska 288 781 288 982 201 0.07 Arizona 631 779 632 935 1 156 0.18 Arkansas 412 277 411 497 780 -0.19 California 2 515 778 2 483 795 31 983 -1.27 Colorado 577 959 570 990 6 969 -1.21 Connecticut 475 973 476 946 973 0.20 Delaware 298 498 296 667 1 831 -0.61 District of Columbia 285 170 285 384 214 0.08 Florida 1 377 429 1 379 470 2 041 0.15 Georgia 832 325 821 518 10 807 -1.30 Hawaii 324 368 322 344 2 024 -0.62 Idaho 337 134 337 184 50 0.01 Illinois 1 056 837 1 060 267 3 430 0.32 Indiana 637 859 628 290 9 569 -1.50 Iowa 450 390 450 618 228 0.05 Kansas 430 687 429 451 1 236 -0.29 Kentucky 498 273 499 293 1 020 0.20 Louisiana 499 711 500 874 1 163 0.23 Maine 331 210 330 405 805 -0.24 Maryland 608 631 607 963 668 -0.11 Massachusetts 665 387 671 621 6 234 0.94 Michigan 840 933 840 199 734 -0.09 Minnesota 606 706 609 146 2 440 0.40 Mississippi 404 978 403 784 1 194 -0.29 Missouri 613 786 612 168 1 618 -0.26 Montana 306 340 305 461 879 -0.29 Nebraska 365 970 364 956 1 014 -0.28 Nevada 416 502 412 224 4 278 -1.03 New Hampshire 335 493 335 675 182 0.05 New Jersey 800 638 801 753 1 115 0.14 New Mexico 362 201 362 260 59 0.02 New York 1 439 096 1 431 886 7 210 -0.50 North Carolina 803 030 800 773 2 257 -0.28 North Dakota 289 915 289 407 508 -0.18 Ohio 974 547 973 816 731 -0.08 Oklahoma 461 686 461 908 222 0.05 Oregon 487 891 484 674 3 217 -0.66 Pennsylvania 1 032 188 1 032 323 135 0.01 Puerto Rico 408 794 404 628 4 166 -1.02 Rhode Island 314 349 314 871 522 0.17 South Carolina 512 460 510 108 2 352 -0.46 South Dakota 299 507 298 888 619 -0.21 Tennessee 616 563 615 549 1 014 -0.16 Texas 1 704 900 1 734 172 29 272 1.72 Utah 414 068 410 093 3 975 -0.96 Vermont 288 734 288 413 321 -0.11 Virginia 753 436 756 466 3 030 0.40 Washington 679 171 677 933 1 238 -0.18 West Virginia 342 209 340 653 1 556 -0.45 Wisconsin 624 061 617 807 6 254 -1.00 Wyoming 280 600 280 219 381 -0.14 State Total 31 823 200 31 759 354 63 846 -0.20 Guam 92 899 92 813 86 -0.09 Virgin Islands 83 901 83 833 68 -0.08 Outlying Areas Total 176 800 176 646 154 -0.09 Attachment II Grant Procedures A. Grant Agreement . The Wagner-Peyser Annual Funding Agreement covers the Wagner-Peyser Base Grant and the Workforce Information Grants to States for Fiscal Year 2011 PY 2011. The Annual Funding Agreement includes Assurances and Certifications that apply to all grants covered by the Agreement. Therefore grantees do not need to submit separate Assurances and Certifications with the Workforce Information Grants to States application. B. Grant Application . The state grant applications must be developed in accordance with Attachments I through V. The grant application must include a transmittal letter signed by both the designated State Workforce Agency SWA administrator and the designated representative of the State Workforce Investment Board SWIB or the governor a signed Application for Federal Assistance SF-424 Budget SF- 424A Section D only for all quarters covered by the state plan and a grant Statement of Work Certification. ETA requests that states submit the original and two copies of the complete grant package to the appropriate ETA Regional Administrator within 45 days of the date of this guidance. C. Grant Approval . Regional Administrators are responsible for final approval of the grant and will issue an approval letter with a copy of the approved grant package to the state and a copy of the approval letter and approved grant package to the grant officer. The grant officer will issue a Notice of Obligation NOO after receipt of the approved grant application from the Regional Administrator. D. Grant Modifications . The grantee and ETA regional office may jointly modify forecasted quarterly expenditures within the state allocation during the grant period of performance. The regional office has authority to recommend funding adjustments to the grant officer when overall grant expenditures are substantially below quarterly budgeted forecasts in the approved SF- 424A. Attachment III Statement of Work Deliverables Workforce Information Grants to States funds shall be used to produce deliverables one through five specified in this Attachment. The deliverables include the population and maintenance of the Workforce Information Database WIDb the production of industry and occupational employment projections and other workforce information and economic products and services required to support ETA national needs and those of state regional and local workforce development systems. Grantees are required to produce all five deliverables with PY 2011 funding. Except for deliverables one and two WIDb maintenance and enhancements and Industry and Occupational Employment Projections which are expected to be standard and comparable across states states are allowed flexibility in developing the remaining three required deliverables. This flexibility enables states to determine the relative priority of the product or service the content and form of the deliverable and the level of investment in each deliverable that best meets state and local needs. States are required to consult with their state and local workforce investment boards economic development agencies educators and other relevant and involved organizations in order to receive significant stakeholder input into the development of these flexible grant deliverables. ETA acknowledges and supports states using funds provided by this grant to produce other information products and services such as workforce information training for state and local workforce system staff and the production of occupational and career guidance resources that support the workforce system and job seekers and documented as customer demand. Grant funds may also be used to address state staff training needs required to build or enhance staff capacity. 1 Populate the Workforce Information Database WIDb with state and local data. The WIDb provides states with a common structure for storing information in a single database in each state. The database is intended to serve as the cornerstone for information delivery workforce research and product development for information that is standard and comparable across all states. The database once populated brings together critical workforce information from many sources to promote better analysis and more sophisticated interpretation. Using the same version of the database in all states is important and necessary for comparative analysis purposes and for ease of maintenance. Additionally state submitted WIDb data also support ETA s CareerOneStop COS Web site. Therefore states are required to implement and maintain the most current version of the WIDb and populate all tables designated as core tables in accordance with - 2 - guidelines issued by the Analyst Resource Center ARC . Database content must be updated timely in order to be as current as the state s most recent publications and data releases. Information and technical support will be provided on the ARC Web site at http www.workforceinfodb.org . The listing of the current core data elements i.e. those elements that must be populated by all states and associated tables may be found at the same Internet address. States are required to populate the database with the license.dbf and licauth.dbf licensing files. Licensing data must be updated every two years. States are required to submit licensing data through the National Crosswalk Service Center NCSC for inclusion on http www.CareerInfoNet.org . The licensed occupations information is located on America s Career InfoNet ACINet site and has been recoded from the Occupational Employment Statistics OES taxonomy to the Occupational Information Network O NET Standard Occupational Classification SOC taxonomy. The NCSC will assist states in recoding their files from OES to O NET SOC for submittal to ACINet if necessary. States may access information and support through the NCSC Web site at http www.xwalkcenter.org or by calling 515 242-5034. Training support material and information updates will be provided through the ARC technical Web site along with links to related sites and electronic newsletters to help states realize the full potential of the WIDb and related resources. It is important that all states take advantage of the resources and training opportunities provided. States may use grant funds for any costs required to populate maintain and update the database including accessing needed staff training. States are expected to avail themselves of ARC training and support and to use WI grant program funds to do so. 2 Produce and disseminate industry and occupational employment projections. States must continue producing and disseminating state and sub-state industry and occupational employment projections using the methodology software tools and guidelines developed by the Projections Workgroup and the Projections Managing Partnership. In the case where a state uses another methodology state officials must document the methodology and indicate the reason for using alternative methods. The primary activity for states for PY 2011 will be the production of statewide short- term and long-term occupational projections. Statewide long-term projections are to be developed for the 2010 to 2020 period and statewide short-term projections from 2011 to 2013. States should note that ETA supports and strongly encourages the production and dissemination of sub-state and local projections. An inability to produce area and local projections must be documented in the Statement of Work Certification and in the state s grant file. - 3 - State grantees may use annual workforce information grant funding to access and participate in needed training opportunities offered by the Projections Workgroup and the Projections Managing Partnership. ETA expects states to actively access any needed staff training and support provided by the Projections Workgroup and the Projections Managing Partnership and to use WI grant program funds to do so. 3 Conduct and publish relevant economic analyses special workforce information and or economic studies determined to be of benefit to the governor and state and local WIBs. Based on customer i.e. stakeholder and partner consultations identifying needs states must use WI grant funding to develop publish and submit economic analyses and special studies capable of informing the workforce and economic development policy and investment determinations to be made by the governor and state or local WIBs. These analyses may also support the LMI WI and economic development needs of other system stakeholders such as state and local economic and workforce development organizations education and training institutions community colleges and other state-identified partners as documented and appropriate. All information sources used in the analyses and studies by states must be clearly referenced and footnoted. ETA continues to encourage state LMI offices and economic research entities to expand the scope and depth of each developed analysis by including information from external credible sources of workforce labor market and economic information where relevant and based on needs identified through WI customer consultations and assessments. Grantees are required to submit .pdf copies or links to .pdf copies of required economic analyses any special workforce information or special economic studies to the appropriate regional office 90 calendar days following the end of the program year. Grantees are also requested to submit .pdf documents or links to .pdf copies of publications and other products produced with WI grant funds that are considered to be of special interest to the workforce investment system to the appropriate regional office. Examples of products of special interest include industry-specific research and analysis state brochures describing the availability and functionality of electronic self-service tools documentation of innovative applications developed for database access or manipulation or innovative workforce information services available to workforce system staff and customers. 4 Post products information and reports on the Internet. States are required to post grant produced products reports including those developed for deliverable three 3 and other workforce information on the Web or - 4 - disseminate the information through other electronic media to facilitate use by the workforce and economic development systems other partners and stakeholders and the general public. WI grant funds may be used for developing maintaining improving and hosting Internet Web sites and other electronic delivery systems in support of this deliverable. 5 Partner and consult on a continuing basis with workforce investment boards and other key workforce and economic development partners and stakeholders. Workforce information grant guidelines require grantee consultation with the SWA state and local WIBs economic and workforce development organizations education and training institutions community colleges and other appropriate state- identified strategic partners and stakeholders to increase the scope and utility of workforce information to inform workforce and economic development vision priorities strategies and enhance career guidance resources and tools. ETA expects workforce information grantees to continue as catalysts that establish and maintain strategic partnerships that work to jointly identify and address job seeker needs as well those of state and local workforce system staff users and other state-identified stakeholders. Grantees are expected to collaborate with as many stakeholders as possible including economic development agencies education and training institutions industry associations business and labor groups and those state-identified to gather and analyze a wide variety of workforce and economic data to inform good decision-making by job seekers and workforce staff track and interpret economic conditions benchmark competitiveness and measure outcomes. Partners stakeholders and the needs identified through consultations must be documented in the grant file. Attachment IV Statement of Work Certification State Workforce Information Grants The State of certifies that it will accomplish grant deliverables one through five specified in Attachment III of the Workforce Information Grants to States Application Instructions for Program Year 2011. Per 29 CFR Part 97.42 e 1 file documentation of grant activities and accomplishments will be available for examination by ETA or other authorized Federal representatives. Governor Date Or SWA Administrator SWIB Chair Date Date If circumstances prevent the accomplishment of a specific grant deliverable s during PY 2011 a deferral must be negotiated with the Regional Administrator and the reasons for delay and a negotiated completion date noted as an addendum to this Statement of Work Certification. Attachment V Annual Performance Report States are required to submit an annual performance report signed by the governor or both the State Workforce Administrator SWA and the State Workforce Investment Board SWIB which concisely summarizes accomplishments and the results of customer consultations about existing and needed workforce information products and services. The report is intended to serve as an accountability management and analysis tool for states and ETA and as a source for promising practices and exemplary products. A. Accomplishments . For each required deliverable provide a concise summary of The outcomes achieved and an analysis that explains the cause of any significant variance from the Grant Certification. Describe any actions required to accomplish the required deliverables. The extent to which activities have conformed to the deliverables schedule including an explanation for the cause of any significant variance from the schedule. Actual aggregate expenditures and an explanation for any significant variance from estimated aggregate expenditures. B. Customer Consultations . Provide a concise summary of The methods used for consulting with customers and customize requirements. Activities to be undertaken to add customer value to the deliverables where needs for improvement are identified based on customer feedback. C. Partnerships and Collaborations. Describe state activities to leverage WI funding Communicate about new and established partnerships activities and linkages. Highlight the tools and resources created through or supported by state and local partnership activities or collaborations during the program year. D. Recommendations for Improvements or Changes to the Deliverables . These may be based on one or more of the following Recommendations based on accomplishments. Recommendations based on consultations with customers.