Enhancing Rural Arizona’s Workforce
Local First Arizona strives to elevate the voice of rural employers through workforce development strategies — identifying solutions geared to employers’ input, including manufacturers in Pinal County, and healthcare providers and the tourism sector in northeastern Arizona (Gila, Navajo, and Apache Counties).
Northern Arizona Good Jobs Network
The Northern Arizona Good Jobs Network is a broad collaborative to ready individuals for in-demand jobs, increase wage growth and secure and retain quality jobs in five rural Arizona counties. Started in 2023, the network has now launched new training-to-employment programs at four community colleges and with partners like White Mountain Economic Development and Mohave County. The network also offers rural employers hiring pipelines, free or low-cost upskilling resources for current staff, and financial incentives for using Good Jobs resources and practicing Good Jobs tenets to attract and retain talent. Learn more about these new training opportunities or how to benefit as an employer.
The Northern Arizona Good Jobs Network will be built over three phases:
Phase 1: System Development
The primary deliverable for the NAGJN Network during Phase 1 was the development of a comprehensive blueprint document that outlines how the network will operate in Phases 2 and 3. This blueprint involved, consulting labor market & other data, gathering information about skills and hiring needs from sector employers across the region, assessing existing community college offerings by sector across the region, and identifying training-to-employment programs to be adapted, scaled or developed in Phase 2.
Phase 2 : Program Design
Develop the skills training curriculum and materials and secure the technical expertise needed to train workers.
Phase 3: Program Implementation
Implement non-construction projects needed to provide workforce training and connect workers with quality jobs, including wrap-around services.
Talent Pipeline Management
Talent Pipeline Management (TPM®) offers an employer-led, demand-driven approach to developing sustainable workforce solutions and reliable talent pipelines across any industry.
Local First Arizona uses and adapts this approach as a tool and resource to strengthen the voice of rural employers in workforce development and to help collect and share insights that inform training programs (content and capacity), job descriptions, recruitment and retention strategies and can lead to localized solutions on a small or large scale.
When local employers and partners commit to participating in a traditional TPM collaborative, the full six-phase process is designed to:
Improve relationships between educators and the business sector in rural communities
Establish clear communication on challenges and opportunities in rural job creation utilizing shared, real-time workforce data
Develop shared language regarding certifications, credentials, skills, and assessments with mutual accountability for employers and talent partners
Gain a strong network with shared purpose and shared accountability
Enhance marketing job opportunities to disconnected youth and other non-traditional workforce sources
Community Partnerships
Local First Arizona is an active strategic partner in communities and networks across the state, helping to grow economic opportunity, retain youth, create jobs, develop robust food systems, and increase revenue through tourism.
Workforce Development News
