The Minneapolis
Neighborhood Employment Network (NET)
Projects, Publications, and 2007 Initiatives
- NET’s primary function is to facilitate a relationship between the Minneapolis Employment and Training Program and the many Adult Program vendors operating throughout Minneapolis. This facilitation comes in the form of monthly meetings held at various locations in Minneapolis. These meetings bring resources, new business, and workforce development competitors to the same table, with the express mission to build cooperation and growing services for hard-to-employ residents of Minneapolis. This facilitation will continue through 2007 and into 2008.
- As part of the facilitation function, NET hosted two workforce development professional trainings during 2006, in an attempt to build counselor skills. The trainings focused on “working with the hardest-of-the-hard” and “improving your placement skills” respectively. In the spring of 2007 NET host a professional development trainings exploring Minnesota's Adult Basic Education (ABE) program. The aim of this training was to share resources and connect counselors with educational opportunities for their future clients. Fall 2007 NET will again host a training that includes ABE, however, this time NET partners and METP will train the Minneapolis Adult Basic Education on how we work, the many programs that make up METP, and ways to better connect services.
- NET participates in monthly meetings of the Department of Employment and Economic Development and METP Business Services representatives. These monthly meetings focus on business developments in and around Minneapolis. While NET has primarily focused on the client, these meetings offer a different and valued new approach to helping the hard-to-employ though better connections to business development.
- Construction Careers Task Force: In early 2007 NET joined METP and stakeholders in the construction trades in kicking off a new task force aimed at creating a jobs pipeline to constructions careers in the Twin Cities metro area. Prompted by the Minneapolis Private Industry/Workforce Board recognizing the need for this pipeline in order to respond to the needed labor in the construction of the Twins new baseball stadium, the Gopher football stadium, and other potential Minneapolis construction projects.
- Employment and Housing Linkages: Recently initiated by CPED, NET is serving on a committee to find ways to better link Minneapolis supported housing and the many community-based employment providers in Minneapolis. In the fall of 2007, NET along side METP, the city of Minneapolis' housing department, will host a meet and greet function bringing together representatives from housing and employment.
- The North Side Business Campaign: Working closely with three Adult Program vendors and the city of Minneapolis, NET has been tracking and reporting on placement successes in north Minneapolis. In an attempt to connect north Minneapolis residents with jobs in north Minneapolis, NET has been working hard to link agencies with resources on the north side, including job opening, north side businesses, and potential new business partners. This “special project” began July 1, 2006 and ended June 30, 2007, reports are filed quarterly with the city of Minneapolis. Following June 30, 2007, emphasis on connecting clients to north side jobs will continue, however tracking will end.
- Minneapolis Youth Employment Survey: Beginning in summer 2006, NET began working with METP to coordinate and initiate a new youth employment survey, to be used in assessing the youth’s work experience. NET worked closely with University of Minnesota’s Center for Urban and Regional Affairs to find the appropriate persons to construct this survey. In April 2007, METP contracted with the Minnesota Center for Survey Research. The survey is near completion and will be used at the end of the summer 2007 to survey this summers current group.
- Minnesota 3D: The Minnesota 3D project is a partnership between the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs and the MN Department of Employment and Economic Development, which aims to brings together employment, housing, transportation and development information and analysis for the Twin Cities metro area into one easy-to-use tool. NET has been working with M3D to publicize the tool and help them understand what type of information workforce development professionals need.
- In the fall of 2006, NET completed the Building Family Wealth Study, conducted by the University of Minnesota for NET, which explored housing and employment linkages as a way to enhance the family wealth for our participants. In December the final report was published by the University of Minnesota and is available on the NET website.
- As part of NET’s relationship with the city of Minneapolis and the workforce development non-profits, NET attempts to respond to “special projects” that are needed for better delivery of services, increase overall knowledge and help build cooperative programs.
