Central Iowa Works

Central Iowa Works fits into a new category of workforce development program – Workforce Intermediary. A workforce intermediary is a local partnership that brings together employers and workers, public and private funding streams, and relevant partners to create and implement pathways to career advancement and employment. The No. 1 goal of Central Iowa Works is to close the skills gap and meet the needs of employers by helping them to recruit and hire qualified workers for jobs in central Iowa. At the same time, we strive to address the needs of job seekers by helping them get trained and hired for real jobs with pathways for growth. Our mission is to strengthen and expand industry specific sector workforce development efforts in Health Care, Energy / Construction, Financial Services and Advanced Manufacturing with a focus on employers, job seekers and community based organizations operating in Central Iowa. Central Iowa Works brings innovation to workforce services by measuring performance, centering its attention on outcomes, achieving goals, and anticipating problems rather than reacting to them. Because of its structure, mission, and role in workforce development, we are able to try new approaches to job training and job placements, and share the findings from these efforts with other practitioners. Central Iowa Works is engaged with improving outcomes for youth, utilizing business simulation techniques to enhance the workplace readiness of job seekers, and studying the feasibility of developing an Alternative Staffing Organization employment strategy that uses a temporary staffing business model and supportive services to help people with obstacles to employment enter and advance in the workforce.