Grants and Initiatives
Worksystems is committed to identifying and pursuing funding and program opportunities to improve the regional system, expand services to workers and businesses, and support better results for the community.
$100,000,000
$100,000,000
in competitive grant resources since 1998
In addition to managing federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds from the U.S. Department of Labor, Worksystems has a highly successful track record of bringing additional grants and other resources into the community.
We pursue funds to support and expand proven best practices, address critical community challenges, and provide customized training to people who need it the most such as disconnected youth, public housing residents, veterans, ex-offenders, long-term unemployed, low-income job seekers, and workers impacted by mass layoffs.
We also pursue funds to support training in key occupations for target sector industries such as Advanced Manufacturing, Healthcare & Social Assistance, Clean Energy, and Construction.
From July 2023 – June 2024, Worksystems:
Applied for
12
grants
Received 6 grants, for a success rate of
50%
Received grant funding of
$3,835,000
Even when we are not awarded a grant, the surrounding work helps us build capacity for the future.
Current Grants & Special Initiatives
A unique, industry-supported training program that prepares participants for a career with stability and opportunity for advancement in the financial services industry.
CareerWork$ Medical connects adults from low-income communities to lasting careers in healthcare, fostering success for employees and employers.
A 10-day paid training program designed to fill critical job loss for the semiconductor industry. It is a partnership between Microchip, onsemi, Worksystems, and Mt. Hood Community College, marking Gresham’s first collaboration in this field. Participants earn one mechatronics credit and a guaranteed interview with Microchip and onsemi. Classes are held at Mt. Hood Community College.
Workers with variable hours often balance adapting to employers’ changing needs with personal challenges like childcare, medical issues, or other part-time jobs, as they transition into the workforce. To create a more supportive labor market, public investments in worker preparation and support are essential, addressing skills gaps and evolving workforce demands. By analyzing patterns in flexible work, we can better understand how individuals seek to increase their hours, income, and skills. FlexPDX leads efforts to align business development and regional policy with these goals, fostering innovation and prioritizing shared investments for mutual success.
Funded in part by TK Foundation, this free training series is aimed at helping frontline supervisors enhance their skills in retaining youth talent (ages 16-24). Trainings draw on best practices and include insights from local youth, their supervisor champions, and youth advocates providing career coaching in work experience programs.
Supporting the maritime workforce through strategic investments by the Oregon Legislature. These certificate programs are a collaboration between Portland Community College and Vigor Industrial, providing students with hands-on experience backed by employer guidance.
The Port of Portland received an Economic Development Administration (EDA) Build Back Better Challenge grant to expand the state’s market use for mass timber. The Oregon Mass Timber Coalition is leading projects to promote shared prosperity by sourcing from resilient forests, developing innovative products, and expanding employment and training opportunities. In partnership with Worksystems and Portland Community College, the Port is assessing industry workforce needs, hiring demand, and creating pathways for community members to enter this growing field.
For the past two years, Worksystems has used Future Ready Oregon funds to support the PCC CLEAR Clinic’s free legal services in Washington County. Held monthly at the PCC Willow Creek Center, the half-day clinic offers assistance with criminal record expungement, eviction expungement, waiving fines/fees, tenant advocacy letters, and general legal advice.
To date, 18 sessions have served 372 individuals, including:
- 330 for criminal record expungement
- 40 to waive fines/fees
- 18 for general legal advice
- 17 for immigration referrals
- 12 for eviction expungement
- 12 for name and gender marker changes
- 2 for tenant advocacy letters
This program was created in response to industry needs to streamline outreach, recruitment, and occupational training for Peer Workers. It aims to build a pipeline of highly skilled professionals with at least one year of recovery from a substance disorder to meet the workforce demands of Behavioral Healthcare employers.
Funding from PCEF in 2022, plus additional leveraged funds, allows Worksystems to focus on Clean Energy as a target sector, expanding the career coaching network, trainings, and scholarship fund to break down barriers to quality clean energy jobs.
The Quality Jobs Initiative is about defining and encouraging the creation of jobs that improve workers’ overall quality of life – jobs that offer self-sufficiency wages, safe working conditions, predictable hours, good benefits, and more.
A 10-day training program that breaks down barriers to entry-level semiconductors jobs. It is the first program of its kind in Oregon and the most successful model nationally at creating access to entry-level semiconductor jobs without advanced degrees or previous work experience.
Worksystems manages and coordinates reentry services for justice-involved individuals, operating through WorkSource Express Centers in the Washington County Jail and the Columbia River Correctional Institute. These services range from pre-release support to community-based career coaching. Partners include Washington County, Multnomah County, the nine Oregon Workforce Boards, Central City Concern, Our Just Future, and SE Works.
A locally funded public/private partnership that supports youth through their first work experience.
Funded in part by Washington County’s investment of federal dollars from the American Rescue Plan Act, West Side Works helps Beaverton preschools and childcare centers recover from the pandemic by connecting them with new employees and covering the costs of those employees’ wages.
A statewide hire-first program that places unemployed job seekers in jobs while providing resources to the businesses to help train the new employees.
PAST INITIATIVES
Many of Worksystems’ programs and initiatives are funded by one-time investments or grants with a defined sunset date. However, they can provide valuable lessons learned and serve as models for future programming.
In 2021, Worksystems received a $6.9 million grant from Prosper Portland to address COVID-19’s disproportionate economic impacts on people of color and other vulnerable groups. The funds supported training programs and paid work experiences in Portland’s retail and restaurant businesses most impacted by the pandemic.
Funded by the Portland Justice Fund, this initiative creates pathways for women and people of color into high-paying trucking careers in recycling and waste hauling. Partnering with Interstate Trucking Academy and the Portland Haulers Association, the program addresses a high demand for local drivers.
Supports career growth and progress in seven healthcare fields by offering one-on-one career coaching, career exploration in the healthcare fields, training that results in an employer- or industry-recognized credential as well as job search and placement assistance.
An innovative, bi-state collaboration between three Workforce Investment Boards and four Public Housing Agencies working together to help 480 public housing residents gain the life and employment skills necessary to attain self-sufficiency.
A $6 million four-year grant that seeks to train and place historically under-represented populations into Healthcare (HC) and Tech (IT) occupations with a solid career pathway into sustainable, living wage employment.
A $8.5M, four-year grant funded to train 850 long-term unemployed and 150 veterans in manufacturing and tech occupations
A program designed to prepare young adults (ages 18–29) with barriers to employment to enter and advance in local tech occupations.