WIB Benchmarking Research Now Online

Southwest Missouri's WIB was one of four leading-edge WIBs statewide to participate in a WIB Benchmarking Project. Other participating groups included the WIBs in Kansas City, Northwest Missouri, and Central Missouri, along with the Missouri Training and Employment Council (state WIB) and the Missouri Division of Workforce Development. Nina Babich and Donna Cruder with the Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW), were contracted as consultants to facilitate the project.

The WIB Benchmarking Project researched and identified high-profile, top-performing WIBs for a series of site visits and interviews with staff and Board members at each of the participating sites. The WIBs ranged in geographic scope and population from rural, to suburban, to urban, and were located in the states of Texas, Connecticut, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Florida. Local WIB Executive Director, Jasen Jones, and Board Members Gary Little and Kevin Rainwater represented Southwest Missouri on the site visits in the Spring and Summer of 2006.

Insights collected from the site visits are summarized in a report on Critical Success Factors for WIBs. This report was released in November of 2006 and is downloadable here as a PDF.
The success factors identified and explained in the report will ultimately provide a foundation for chartering/certification guidelines for WIBs in Missouri. Check back often for Southwest Missouri's progress and success in the attainment of chartering guidelines as part of ongoing strategy through the WIB's Organizational Development workgroup.