Mission
Job 1 is dedicated to responding to the labor market needs of high-demand, high growth industries by preparing unemployed and underemployed citizens to move into the economic mainstream through family-supporting jobs and careers.

History
The New Orleans Workforce Investment Board (NOWIB) was established as the Local Workforce Investment Area under the guidance of the Workforce Investment Act of 1998. The Workforce Investment Board is a business-led organization, partnering with education, organized labor, higher education, the community, and government, to provide oversight to public workforce development programs. The New Orleans Workforce Investment Board has federal legislative authority to approve Workforce Investment Act – Title I spending and to measure the effectiveness of publicly funded workforce development programs in partnership with the Mayor of New Orleans. It convenes Job 1, a partnership of over thirty public and/or private workforce development agencies and organizations.

Early in its formation, NOWIB leadership determined that workforce education and training reform and youth employment were critical elements to creating a skilled workforce in New Orleans. To that end, much of the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development and NOWIB’s efforts have focused on building their capacity to serve adults and to connect youth to paid work and learning opportunities while developing effective business partnerships. NOWIB’s Youth Career Center has received recognition from the United States Department of Labor, the Louisiana Workforce Commission, and the United States General Accounting Office for its work in serving young people, particularly out-of-school youth. Mayor Nagin’s commitment to young people is evident through his 2003 $1 million summer youth employment program, Mayor’s Team, at a time when the nation’s cities are scaling back or even zeroing out summer employment programs for youth.

For the past four years, NOWIB has developed its capacity to serve adults through the program design, the chartering and approval of contracts with community-based organizations and government organizations to operate its Career Centers, and specialized programs such as welfare to work and the H-1B Visa High Skills Initiative. Since 2000, NOWIB has developed customized jobs training and skills upgrade programs for entry-level workers in partnership with employers in the healthcare, construction, and information technology industries. It continues to chart new territory as it expands its One-Stop Service Delivery System and develops a sharper focus on business partnerships.

In 2001, NOWIB was selected as one of four Workforce Investment Boards in the nation to pioneer a detailed analysis of the region’s demographics, labor market, supplier system, as well as the public funding and policy environment, in partnership with Northwestern University. In two months, NOWIB will release an updated report, State of the Workforce. NOWIB is considered by many as a national leader in workforce development and sets the trend as the workforce intermediary for the metro New Orleans region.