Washington Integrated Sector Employment (WISE)

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The WISE consortium is a statewide collaboration comprised of Washington’s Centers of Excellence for Clean Energy, Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing, and Construction; five workforce investment boards; eight colleges; the state’s TAA coordinating agency; the Washington State Labor Council; and a dozen major employers (1). The near $10 million TAACCCT grant provides opportunities for participants to enter into a pre-apprenticeship or apprenticeship program in the clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and construction sectors (2). In the pre-apprenticeship program, students who test at below-college level gain the foundational skills needed for college-level coursework, combined with technical skills related to the industry in which they will be working.

As of September 30, 2016, 910 participants had been served by the program (3).

1. “Washington Integrated Sector Employment (WISE) Grant,” Renton Technical College, n.d., https://rtc.edu/wise-grant; “Murray Applauds Major Investment to Train WA Students for 21st Century Jobs,” United States Senator Patty Murray, September 29, 2014, https://www.murray.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/2014/9/wa-community-colleges-jobs-murray-applauds-major-investment-to-train-wa-students-for-21st-century-jobs.
2. “Washington Integrated Sector Employment (WISE),” Center of Excellence for Aerospace and Advanced Manufacturing, December 6, 2016, http://www.coeaerospace.com/wise/.
3. Hins-Turner et al. “Washington Integrated Sector Employment: An Interim Report,” May 2017. http://cleanenergyexcellence.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Washington-Integrated-Sector-Employment-Mid-term-Report.pdf