Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

This paper summarizes lessons from an evaluation of the Accelerated Training for Illinois Manufacturing (ATIM) program initiated by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO). Funded by a $12 million Workforce Innovation Fund (WIF) grant from the U.S. Department of Labor, ATIM was designed to provide workers with the skills needed for advanced manufacturing jobs using an accelerated career pathways approach. The program was implemented in five multi-county regions across the state, with a lead Local Workforce Investment agency (LWIA) responsible for region-level management. Key program elements included development of personalized employment and training plans, case management, development of accelerated and flexible training programs leading to industry-recognized credentials in advanced manufacturing, and work-based learning opportunities to prepare participants for careers in the industry.

The ATIM evaluation, recently completed by Social Policy Research Associates and Program and Policy Insight, randomly assigned a total of 745 participants into either the program group (who were able to enroll in ATIM) or a control group (who could not enroll in ATIM, but were able to access other training services and programs through the local workforce system and other community partners). This paper will present findings from the evaluation's impact study, which found that ATIM had a positive and statistically significant impact on employment and earnings during the second year following random assignment.

Key lessons on regional sector-focused career pathways programs from ATIM implementation include the following: (1) sector-focused training programs are vulnerable to economic downturns, which impact both the demand for program graduates and the engagement of industry representatives in program efforts; (2) to support development of career pathways programs, public and proprietary training partners must be able to offer flexible and condensed programming that may not align with their typical course schedules; (3) regional career pathways programs are best suited to more populated and geographically concentrated areas, as transportation and geography limit the ability of rural participants to access training and employment; and (4) sectoral strategies benefit from employer involvement, but must be strategic about when and how to engage employers.