However, the impact of this “free riding” might be greater on a small business. Federal legislation, such as the School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 (STWOA) and the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 (WIA), has encouraged communities to create systems that address the education and training of young adults and the workforce needs of business in a modern, competitive work economy. Advantage Carolina initiatives were funded with a combination of public and private funds. Consortia Activities Address Current and Future Workforce Needs

Small businesses can seek solutions to their workforce problems by linking with a consortium of community organizations that help them address both their current and future workforce development issues. Current needs include both hiring new employees and training existing employees. Consortia officials we interviewed identified four key principles common to all of the communities we visited: (1) activities are focused primarily on businesses’ workforce needs and are structured around key industry sectors represented in their community; (2) consortium organizations provide leadership and maintain on-going, positive working relationships with their partners; (3) workforce development activities are accessible by both businesses and prospective employees; and (4) consortium organizations create ways to make participation in activities more attractive to small businesses. Some noted that providing businesses with skilled workers to meet their workforce needs could be a significant enough incentive to participate. Limited Information Available on Program Outcomes

Outcome studies of workforce development activities at the sites we visited were limited in scope.
What GAO Found

Small businesses often have serious difficulty finding skilled employees, upgrading the skills of their existing employees, and identifying strategies to meet future workforce needs. The Workforce Investment Act of 1998 seeks to address these workforce development issues and give federal training programs a greater employer focus. Although these problems are common throughout the country, small businesses in some areas have joined with business and trade organizations, community colleges, and other public and private groups to form workforce development networks--often referred to as workforce consortia. This new approach offers small businesses access to various workforce development activities in which they might otherwise be unable to participate. Limited information exists on the outcome of workforce consortia at the sites GAO reviewed. There were no systematic efforts to evaluate overall consortium effectiveness, but there were isolated attempts to monitor participation rates and assess the impact of specific activities on job retention and future earnings.