The Arkansas Workforce Development Board is moving toward asking the U.S. Department of Labor for seven waivers to federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requirements. One would allow the state to consolidate its 10 workforce development boards into a single state entity.
The consolidation and other changes would redirect spending away from overhead and to training and supportive services, said Cody Waits, executive director of the Arkansas Department of Commerce Division of Workforce Connections.
Waits said the size of Arkansas’ WIOA federal grant is roughly $16 million annually. About 15% of that money goes to the state, and the rest is divided among 10 workforce development areas according to a formula…