About the Bennington County
School and Workforce Partnership
The Bennington County School and Workforce Partnership is a coalition of businesses, schools, colleges, training providers, economic developers, and relevant government offices all sharing a common mission: "To strengthen workforce quality, develop career opportunities, and foster a culture of lifelong learning in Bennington County."

The Partnership's vision is of:
A Bennington County with a superior workforce and a community that values and supports learning for its own sake for all community members. This includes an outstanding coordinated system of education, training, counseling and information - with employers, education and training institutions, and concerned officials and community representatives planning and monitoring the learning and workforce development processes. The community thus anticipates and actively pursues opportunities to promote high quality jobs and increased competitiveness for area employers through responsive training and education activities.
The Partnership was formed in the mid-1990s. It grew out of a strong sense that business and education leaders should work together to nourish the area's evolving workforce so as to ready it for the new century. The State of Vermont embodied this concept in statute, mandating a "workforce investment board" (or WIB) - including significant business representation - in each region of the state. State level coordination is by the Human Resources Investment Council (HRIC), itself comprised of business representatives and all relevant government agencies.
In Bennington County, our "WIB", namely the Partnership, saw the benefits of merging into a single "address," or at least closely coordinating with, all umbrella organizations related to workforce development. This included the Bennington County School-to-Work Collaborative, the Bennington County Adult Education Council, and the Bennington County Career Development Center Regional Advisory Board. Clearly, the active role of the local Department of Employment and Training would be critical. And the active support and participation of the public school districts, the Community College of Vermont, Southern Vermont College, Bennington College, the Learning Institute, the Tutorial Center, the local Department of Social Welfare, and similar organizations would also be essential.

The primary business of the Partnership is managed by the Executive Committee, which directs the long-term strategic planning process of the WIB. The Executive Committee's main responsibilities are the identification of priority issues and the overall research, development and planning of school to work initiatives in Bennington County. They also oversee other committees and task forces developed on an ongoing basis to address specific issues. These groups are created to facilitate the implementation of priority projects designated by the Executive Committee. The general membership meets monthly to discuss current initiatives and generate ideas for partnership activities.