Investing in Quality Jobs: New CWWC Business Cohort to Launch with Support from SAEF Grant  

The Columbia-Willamette Workforce Collaborative (CWWC)—a partnership between Clackamas Workforce Partnership, Workforce Southwest Washington, and Worksystems—is taking bold steps to support businesses in creating high-quality jobs that benefit both workers and employers Thanks to a $50,000 State Apprenticeship Expansion Formula (SAEF) grant from the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, CWWC will develop and launch a Quality Jobs Business Pilot to help employers adopt proven strategies that boost job quality and strengthen business outcomes.  

Since 2021, the CWWC has championed the concept of Quality Jobs, particularly in key regional industries such as healthcare and social assistance, construction, manufacturing, clean energy, and early childhood education. The CWWC Quality Jobs Framework, adopted in 2022, defines quality jobs as those that provide living wages, comprehensive benefits, worker voice and safety, predictable schedules, equitable hiring, and opportunities for advancement.  

A Pilot Cohort with Long-Term Impact  

The proposed three-year pilot will bring employers together for a series of workshops, resource-sharing sessions, and hands-on implementation support to help them put quality job strategies into practice. The pilot is designed to be replicable and scalable for other regions across Oregon and Washington.  

Resources planned for participating businesses include tools to calculate turnover costs, implement skills-based hiring and job advancement opportunities, develop family-friendly policies, and strengthen frontline supervision to retain young workers.  

By engaging with employers of all sizes and centering proven strategies, this initiative aims to make high-quality jobs the standard—not the exception—throughout the region.