A U.S. Senate subcommittee learned about promising practices in the JobSight network during testimony about WIA one-stop centers on June 18.

The Pike County JobSight was one of 14 exemplary one-stop centers nationwide selected for examination by the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO), which conducted the study at the request of Sen. Ted Kennedy, Rep. John Boehner, and Rep. Howard McKeon. While in eastern Kentucky, GAO analysts studied accomplishments of several JobSight comprehensive centers, including the Perry County JobSight's role in helping attract a major manufacturing facility to the area.

The results of the nationwide study were presented to the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Subcommittee on Employment, Safety, and Training, in oral testimony and a written report.

"States and localities are learning how to use the flexibility afforded by WIA to develop systems that work for their local areas and that implement WIA's vision of a customer- focused system," the GAO told the subcommittee.

During testimony, the Senators learned that "... when one of the nation's largest cabinet manufacturers was considering opening a new facility in the eastern Kentucky area, the one-stop ... offered a tailored set of services to attract the employer to the area. The services included assisting the company with pre-screening and interviewing applicants and establishing an on-the-job training package that used WIA funding to offset up to 50 percent of each new hire's wages during the 90-day training period. According to a company representative, the incentive package offered by the one-stop was the primary reason the company chose to build a new facility in eastern Kentucky instead of another location."

Throughout the testimony, GAO praised the JobSight network for its initiatives in cross-training and collaboration among one-stop center workers, participating in coordinated economic development activities, dedicating staff to business outreach, responding to the needs of specific industries, marketing, and creating a shared identity for the partner agencies.

GAO analysts visited eastern Kentucky for two days in October 2002 to interview the management and staff of JobSight and Eastern Kentucky C.E.P., Inc., and to study many aspects of JobSight operations.

(Click here to see all excerpts of the GAO report
where the Pike County JobSight was referenced.)

(To see the entire GAO report, click here.)

(Click here to read an account of GAO's visit
to the Pike County JobSight and EKCEP headquarters.)