Potomac Job Corps Center hosted the DC Workforce Development Council retreat on Tuesday this week, November 9, 2010. The goal of the retreat was to operationalize the council’s mission to help East of the River residents secure and retain successful jobs and careers, and help employers hire and retain qualified DC resident employees.

The Workforce Development Council is a strategic alliance of workforce development stakeholders collaborating to increase the economic security and family wellbeing of DC residents living east of the Anacostia River, where unemployment is the highest in the city and among the highest in the nation. 

“More than $10 billion in development and infrastructure investment is planned for Ward 8 of the District of Columbia over the next decade”, said Allie Bird, director of the Workforce Development Council. Our Council is working to recognize the demand of the employment opportunities arising in this market and to develop the training and the network linkages for DC residents to access and succeed in these prospects”.

The emphasis of the Workforce Development Council is on in-demand occupations with entry level opportunities including construction, healthcare, building and property maintenance, office/tech, hospitality, and transportation. The Council also promotes entrepreneurship as a vehicle for achieving professional independence and economic self-sufficiency.

Key stakeholders of the council that attended the retreat included employers in growth industries; workforce development organizations; resident leaders; organized labor; academic and vocational education institutions; faith-based and community-based support organizations and the government agencies concerned with economic and workforce development.