Matching Funds Available to Communities for Workforce Development

A $1 million community incentive match program recently announced by Gov. Dennis Daugaard will give communities across the state the opportunity to take an active role in addressing their own workforce issues.

“As a result of the workforce summits, we know the business, education, government and other sectors all need to work together to meet our challenges,” said Gov. Daugaard. “I want to hear community-specific ideas and innovative plans to meet those communities’ workforce needs.”

Applications will be reviewed by the South Dakota Workforce Development Council in December to make recommendations to the Governor. The program is being administered by the Department of Labor and Regulation and the Governor’s Office of Economic Development.

The proposals will be evaluated on several criteria, including cross-sector involvement, sustainability in the community, consistency with statewide initiatives and quality of matching funding. The application narrative must detail the targeted workforce need and the proposed activity, as well as the cross-sector engagement each community used to develop the proposal.

Proposals must be submitted by 5 p.m. CDT on Friday, Nov. 21 to SDWINS@state.sd.us. However, communities do not need to have their matching funds available until March 31, 2015.

For more information and to download the application form, visit www.SouthDakotaWINS.com.