NVTI's newest training course has been designed, refined and is ready to go! The course, Promoting Partnerships for Employment, is designed primarily for LVER staff (or DVOPs who perform both DVOP/LVER duties as some in smaller offices do).

"This class is intended for anyone who is performing LVER staff duties as outlined in VPL 11-02, which resulted from P.L. 107-288, Jobs for Veterans Act," NVTI Training Manager Jan Trunce said. "We're confident that after months of development, participants are going to gain a lot of knowledge and helpful skills from the Partnership course."

The Partnership course focuses on teaching participants how to present information about the law to internal partners (i.e., One-Stop and Workforce Investment Act partners), giving brief presentations on portions of the law and then answering related questions. Participants will also come to understand the intricacies of labor market information (LMI) and how to use it to understand the community.

Another focus of the class will be to discuss public relations and the value of a proactive campaign for promoting veterans programs and offices in general. They will study how to effectively target the audience, what materials to use and how to develop an image, etc. In addition to targeting employers, participants will also discuss other efforts such as setting up Stand Downs, job fairs and similar events to maximize participation and understanding of programs.

Participants will also be required to do some research work via an e-learning segment, before they attend the in-class session. They'll need to learn about the local labor market and be able to make a presentation about what they find.

Teresa Kangas, Senior NVTI Instructor, said "The course will be very interactive and skills based. We want participants to learn practical skills they can take away with them for positive public relations strategies.

NVTI trainers completed the first pilot class in Ohio, the week of October 18. The Partnership course was very well received. After some more fine-tuning the course will soon become part of the regular NVTI course offering lineup starting early 2005.

Download a copy of P.L. 107-288, Jobs for Veterans Act pdf or VPL 11-02, which outlines roles and responsibilities