Workforce Development Training Opportunities in the Capital Area (Part 1)

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One of the Boards that CAPCOG facilitates is the Capital Area Economic Development District (CAEDD), which convenes a group of elected officials, economic development practitioners, workforce development experts, and higher education leaders to coordinate responses to issues of economic competitiveness.

Recently, the CAEDD has been working to compile a snapshot of workforce development training providers in the Capital Area region. Because the region has two different workforce boards, multiple community college systems, and a vast array of apprenticeship programs, no single picture of available training resources is easily accessible.  As it turns out, compiling that picture was a challenge for CAPCOG staff as well. However, we did successfully create a database that includes the following:

• Training programs certified by the Texas Workforce Commission. This is the comprehensive list of programs that are eligible for funding and wraparound service support from area Workforce Boards.
• Community College and other job-training providers that offer programs aside from those certified by the Texas Workforce Commission.
• Apprenticeship programs registered with the U.S. Department of Labor

Use the drop-down menus in the visualization below to filter training opportunities by the type of training, the family of program, or by specific providers. More information about training programs is provided in the dynamic table below the map.

A few of the interesting findings evident in the visualization include:

• Computer and IT programs are heavily concentrated in Travis and Williamson counties. For one of the region's fastest growing sectors, geographic access to these programs is surprisingly limited.
• Apprenticeship programs, on the other hand, have fairly good geographical coverage. However, these programs are predominantly focused on the construction/trades sectors.
• In general, rural coverage and accessibility is lacking. This is somewhat understandable, given lower population densities in rural areas, but for those living in rural communities, access is a considerable hurdle.
  

The next post in this series will look at this same information in the context of demographic change and in light of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board's 60x30TX Plan. Stay tuned!