Strategic Partnerships:
The Enterprise provides staffing and coordination to a number of business consortia in order to better leverage resources, reduce training costs, and create coordinated solutions to workforce issues. These efforts are focused on programs and  protocols that benefit multiple companies within an industry niche. Here are some examples:    

The Mid-Willamette Metals Consortium
The Mid-Willamette Metals Consortium exists to promote the needs of the metals industry for a more highly skilled workforce.  It is a group of more than fifty industry and non-industry businesses from throughout the region working together to: increase the abilities of the current workforce; raise the profile of the industry;  increase awareness of the resources available to address industry needs; and advocate for policies and  reforms that will benefit manufacturing.  The Enterprise has partnered with the consortium to provide staff support and connectivity to local resources necessary to meet these goals.  The Enterprise has helped the consortium secure more than $120,000 in public sector funding to support a variety of projects, including: development of a DVD to promote the industry in the high schools; delivery of leadership and hard skills training  for current workforce, at a minimal cost; and recruitment of staff through partnership with the schools and  WorkSource Centers.  

Click here for more information about the metals consortium
Or visit  www.Workwithmetals.com    

The Mid-Willamette Food Processors Consortium
The Mid-Willamette Food Processors Consortium exists to promote the growth and success of the food  processing industry through sharing best practices and working toward improving workforce knowledge, skills  and abilities.  The Enterprise has partnered with the consortium to support its members in reaching goals to: learn about industry best practices and standards; share information to promote learning; increase the abilities  of the current and future workforce; raise the profile of the industry; and identify and better use resources.  The Enterprise has significantly helped the consortium access training resources to address issues of leadership  development, English as a second language, and technical skills training.  Through it's partnership with the  Enterprise, the consortium has received the benefit of $21,000 in staffing and $170,000 in training funds.  

Click here for more information about the food processors consortium

Mid-Willamette High Performance Consortium
The Mid-Willamette High Performance Consortium exists to ensure all Mid-Willamette manufacturers are high performing, profitable, and thriving in the global economy. The objectives of this cross-industry group are to: provide a forum for collaboration and learning among members; provide resources to companies for training and growth; help members set continuous improvement benchmarks; provide guidance; and increase the number of companies in the region actively using high performance strategies. The Enterprise was asked to staff a consortium to bring them together and create a learning environment. The Enterprise has secured a $25,000 grant to facilitate consortium projects, and has invested almost $755,000 through EWTF and Gateway grant funding to support the implementation of lean manufacturing in the region.

Click here for more information about the high performance consortium

Mid-Willamette Secondary Woods Consortium
The Mid--Willamette Secondary Woods Consortium recently formed in October of 2007, after realizing the benefits that could be found in working together to leverage training resources.  The consortium has already secured funding and staffing support from the Enterprise for technical skills and leadership training, as well as worker recruitment and outreach. 

Enterprise Contact
For more information regarding meetings, schedules and activities, please contact:

Karen Litvin
O: 503-581-4272
E: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it