A common lament of businesses here and in other cities is that job seekers lack basic skills, including reading, writing and math. Result is a wide spectrum of programs that work, placing people in jobs day in, day out. Chicago's move to get business leaders involved is calculated.
City expects block grants, administered through the state, to be wave of future.
Plan is to be ready with a streamlined, employer-driven job training network, a strategy also pursued in Massachusetts, Oregon and Pennsylvania. Newly formed Chicago Workforce Board, made up of business, education and government leaders, aims to better organize the 154 federal job training programs administered through 11 state agencies, nine local agencies and more than 100 nonprofit and educa tional groups. Simultaneous thrust by community-based employment and training programs is to patch together public and foundation funding to offer programs with tight focus. Seventy training programs are geared to women, youth or an ethnic neighborhood. Community-bas ed training is seen as most effective approach.