West Michigan TEAM Receives Grant, Starts Ottawa County Workforce Resource Network
Traci Douglas Named Interim Executive Director for Local Employer Consortiums

OTTAWA COUNTY – West Michigan TEAM has received local support to expand its workforce development program and named Traci Douglas interim executive director of its operations in Ottawa County. West Michigan TEAM brings together private, public and nonprofit organizations to strengthen local economies throughout the region. Its focus is on helping lower-wage workers succeed on the job and advance in the labor market, helping businesses find and retain qualified employees, and helping government reduce costs related to unemployment while enhancing the impact of existing workforce development programs.

This project is made possible by a grant from The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area. “Partnering with West Michigan TEAM aligns with our mission to make the community a better place in which to live and work,” says Janet DeYoung, the community foundation’s executive director.

West Michigan TEAM considers the community foundation an important partner in its overall strategy to strengthen local economies. “We work to create dramatic and positive change for communities and businesses in West Michigan,” says West Michigan TEAM vice president Ashleigh Emmerson. “Our approach represents system changes that make a lasting and positive difference for employees and businesses. Support from The Community Foundation of the Holland/Zeeland Area will help us achieve that goal.”

West Michigan TEAM uses a unique, proven Tri-sector Employment and Advancement Model (TEAM) to help communities create vibrant local networks that benefit employees and employers.

Emmerson says tapping Traci Douglas as interim executive director gives West Michigan TEAM the ability to concentrate on developing a local presence. “Traci is respected by her peers in her previous experience in and application of the models principles and can collaborate to help support the community’s workforce development needs,” she says. “I’m pleased to be part of an effort to keep West Michigan strong and look forward to partnering with as many businesses as possible to make that happen,” Douglas says.

Many local businesses recognize the opportunity and potential that the TEAM model brings to the area. “We look forward to partnering with West Michigan TEAM and area businesses to help workers succeed here in the Holland, Zeeland and the surrounding area,” says Lakeshore Advantage president Randy Thelen.

West Michigan TEAM is active in a number of West Michigan counties (including Kent, Ottawa, Muskegon, and Calhoun). Through West Michigan TEAM, groups of employers join together in consortiums. A network of these consortiums is formed and supported by a TEAM executive director. Ottawa County is the most recent network being established in West Michigan.

Locally, employers partner with public and nonprofit agencies to tailor specific site programs to provide information, education and training designed to increase employee knowledge, efficiency and effectiveness in the workplace environment. At the regional level, programs are developed to amplify broad-scale impact, including a focus on metrics and evaluation, and development of best practices.

“In 2006, businesses participating in one consortium trained 617 workers and maintained a 87% average yearly job retention rate,” says West Michigan TEAM board chair member Mark Peters, president of Butterball Farms Inc. “That saved the public sector $1 million and benefited these businesses by more than $ 90,000. That’s a 239% return-on-investment to the employers.”

West Michigan TEAM began in partnership with The Delta Strategy in 2006 through a Workforce Innovation for Regional Economic Development (WIRED) grant, and is incorporating as a nonprofit corporation in the state of Michigan. Its request for 501(c)(3) status was filed in August 2007 and is pending.

The Tri-Sector Employment & Advancement Model draws on concepts pioneered by Grand Rapids-based Cascade Engineering in 2000 and advanced by a consortium of employers through The SOURCE (a West Michigan TEAM partner) in 2003. The model incorporates a social science framework for understanding poverty and welfare to career advancement.