The Boston Private Industry Council (PIC), the city’s MassHire Workforce Board, is one of sixteen workforce boards statewide. Mayor Michelle Wu appoints the members who are leaders from business, education, government, labor, and the community. The Board oversees the distribution of public workforce development funds in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (OWD). Two subcommittees, the Workforce Development Committee and the Youth Council, review performance and develop spending recommendations for consideration and approval by the Board.
The Board also charters Boston’s MassHire career centers and works with them to implement workforce development strategies. Career Centers, complemented by community-based Access Points and Satellites, provide the infrastructure for Boston’s public workforce development system. Career centers are also known as American Job Centers, as designated in the 2014 reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
Workforce Board Roles
- Convenes local stakeholders to assist in the development of a Boston workforce development plan for the distribution of federal resources in the context of local, state, and philanthropic investments in the system
- Conducts workforce research and regional labor market analysis
- Selects career center operators through a competitive process and awards charters of no longer than four years
- Maintains the eligible training provider list to ensure sufficient numbers and types of training programs available to Boston residents through career centers
- Engages a diverse range of employers to ensure that workforce development activities are aligned with hiring needs, labor market projections, and career opportunities
- Reviews applications to ensure that adult education programs are aligned with the local workforce development plan
- Collaborates with secondary and postsecondary education to develop and implement career pathways by aligning employment, education, training, and supportive services, particularly for those with barriers to employment
- Organizes industry-led networks of employers, educators, and workforce development partners to close the loop between policy and practice and to take action collectively.
You can find schedules of upcoming meetings and minutes of past meetings on the website of the MassHire Workforce Board.