On May 10, over a hundred representatives from more than thirty organizations gathered for the third annual Chelan/Douglas Workforce Collaboration Summit hosted at Wenatchee Valley College. It was the first gathering of its kind since the COVID-19 pandemic, and all involved came together with excitement.
The Summit is an annual convening of local workforce development partners, community organizations and service providers. This energizing, valuable one-day event focuses on improving customer service and access to services, partner collaboration, and professional development.
Presentations were given related to employment and career services, affordable healthcare resources, business services including internships, on-the-job training, apprenticeships, diverse hiring, upskilling staff, as well as other critical resources including housing, childcare and transportation.
A special panel was held during lunch in which three individuals shared inspiring stories of how their career journeys were made possible through a collaboration of several partners represented at the Summit. It was an impactful session and a highlight of the day for many.
Attendees had opportunity to network with staff from other partner agencies and further their connections for future collaboration. At the end of the day, a demo was given of the new staff resource website to help partners provide better customer service through access to extensive program information. The Summit was a great success and our local community and workforce system was strengthened as a result. Thank you to all the organizations who participated in making it happen! See you next year.