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Governor John P. de Jongh, Jr. has recently appointed thirteen non-governmental positions on the Virgin Islands Workforce Investment Board, a body the governor created to guide the professional development of the territory’s workforce.
De Jongh created the Workforce Investment Board by signing an executive order in January 2008. Board members are charged with advising the governor on strategies and policies that develop a coordinated system fostering an advanced professional workforce in the Virgin Islands. “Creating and empowering a Workforce Investment Board comprised of representatives from the public sector, private sector, and the community to cultivate a dynamic system to guide our many available resources and programs to the needs of employers is critical to true workforce development. That system, along with economic advances, will promote a more career-driven, adaptable and technologically savy workforce,” the governor said. “It is important that our workforce is trained not only for what is now available, but that we take into account where our economic efforts are leading us, what our employers are requesting and that we put in place the programs that provide a career pathway for those wanting the opportunity. The approach is a complement to the sixteen pathways available through the Department of Education’s Career and Technical initiatives.”
The Workforce Investment Board replaced the Human Resource Investment Council. It assumed the same rights and duties of the Council while placing greater emphasis on planning, policy development, coordination, monitoring and evaluation of a unified effort between all workforce development agencies, the private sector, labor unions and faith- and community-based partners. The move was in line with a practice of U.S. states and territories to continually update their strategic plans to address priorities outlined by the U.S. Labor Department’s Employment and Training Administration.
The twenty-five members of the board—representatives of various economic, social and government interests—will support programs they believe will successfully attract new businesses to the Virgin Islands and create the kind of employment opportunities that allow the territory’s citizens to maintain a high standard of living.
The Executive Order mandates the Board’s membership includes the Governor or his designee; the Commissioner of Labor; Assistant Commissioner of Employment & Training; Commissioner of Education; Director of Adult, Career and Technical Education; a senior official of the University of the Virgin Islands; Commissioner of Human Services; Administrator of Vocational Rehabilitation; a senior representative from the Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority; and two members of the Virgin Islands Legislature. The terms of those government officials will be concurrent with their positions.
The order requires that the governor fill the remaining positions with 11 representatives of business and industry, one representative of organized labor, one member of a community-based organization, and one of a faith-based organization.
“The members of the Board include those in some of the fields that we are encouraging as industry niches for the Virgin Islands, such as healthcare, technology, renewable energy, aviation, finance, and, in general, small business entrepreneurship,” emphasized Richard Difede, chairman of the Workforce Investment Board.
The non-governmental members include:
- Allie Allison Petrus, Surtep Enterprises
- Nancy Bass, V.I. Equicare
- Roger Dewey, St. Croix Community Foundation (Community organization)
- Richard Difede, Goldcoast Yachts
- Omer Erseluk, Seaborne Aviation
- Onaje Jackson, Sustainable Systems and Design International
- Charlene Jones, Nursing (Labor)
- Daniel McIntosh, Chairman, V.I. Board of Career & Technical Education (Faith-based)
- Athneil C. “Addie” Ottley, Ottley Communications Corporation
- Neil Ruan, NR Electric
- Amber Walker, Bank of Nova Scotia
- David Zumwalt, UVI’s Research and Technology Park
Together, the board members will work on aligning training services with job demand, coordinating education and talent-development programs, and helping high-school dropouts enter the workforce. They will also assist Department of Labor officials in creating a system to identify and assess suitable candidates for the territory’s many career development programs, and in implementing uniform administrative procedures and performance standards.
The Workforce Investment Board will help advise the governor on how best to allocate local and federal funds to various human resource programs, and will establish Memoranda of Understanding with all workforce agencies, as well as partners in the private sector.
The board will receive funding from the various workforce development programs it coordinates. It will be administered through the Labor Department.
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