County May Team Up On WIB Efforts

CANTON - St. Lawrence County may partner with a regional organization to help administer employment programs after the Office of Economic Development dissolves Oct. 1.

The county Workforce Investment Board's employment programs are currently carried out under the Office of Economic Development, but the office will cease to be next month per a contract with the Industrial Development Agency to carry out economic development activities on the county's behalf. Staff carrying out WIB programs are being transferred to the Department of Social Services. Lawmakers are expected to finalize the transfer when they meet Monday.

Raymond H. Fountain, WIB executive director, said a lot of work lies ahead to prepare for the transition.

"The next step is for the county and the WIB to negotiate a new operating agreement," he said. "The IDA has also consented to having those of us doing WIB functions to continue to help in those areas."

Mr. Fountain said services through the One-Stop Career Center will remain intact and the WIB will still oversee its programs, but who actually carries out their administrative functions remains to be seen.

He said the WIB is considering joining forces with the North Country Regional Workforce Investment Board to fill that role. What the partnership will entail is yet to be decided, but it makes sense to begin looking at program administration from a regional standpoint, he said. The North Country Regional WIB oversees federally funded employment and training programs in Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties. Mr. Fountain said applying for funding on a regional basis could result in more money for each county because their combined population would be considered.

Paul A. Grasso, North Country Regional WIB executive director, said his organization's role could be to ensure reporting requirements are fulfilled for existing programs, or to seek additional funding for training and other programs on a regional basis.

"The challenge in such remote areas is that you can't realistically get services to the people who need them without spending an exorbitant amount of money," Mr. Grasso said. "We'd have a much larger area to cover, but we'd also have a number of people so that we can pursue grants and other types of funding, and it will allow us to make services cost-efficient."

Aside from a possible funding advantage, Mr. Fountain said the county soon might not have a choice about pooling efforts with other counties.

"There are probably 33 workforce areas in the state, and there are already rumors that the next administration in state government and the state Department of Labor will clearly recommend that there be fewer," he said. "We want to be prepared before that happens."