Policy Outlook on Immigration Recap

Our November Policy Outlook focused on the newly established Office of Legal Immigration. These brief virtual meetings are part of our policy development process.

Katie Ralston Howe, Workforce Development Director at the Department of Commerce, along with Janna Pastir and Paige Kuntz from the ND Department of Commerce joined us to discuss how the rollout of the new office is going. This office was established this past legislative session.

Insights from the meeting:

• Work is underway to get resources for the Office in place, including staff, communication with other state and federal leaders, and a consultant.
• The consultant will complete a study to assess the needs of employers and communities to prepare for and integrate New Americans.
• A Global Talent Taskforce will also be created to serve in an advisory capacity during the biennium.
• Data collected will be used to determine the future scope of the office and to develop a $2 million pilot grant program to support employers and communities with workforce development efforts in this arena. 

What we know: This spring, 76% of GNDC members responded that they were not using immigration as a workforce solution but if given the opportunity 55% of those currently not accessing resources would.

• We also know local chambers and other trade associations are creating programming and specific resources to utilize this untapped labor pool.

What's next: This is a topic that GNDC’s Policy Council on workforce will dig into. If you have feedback on what resources would be helpful to employers in North Dakota, consider joining. Policy Councils will begin meeting in December.

Our next Policy Outlook will be held on Dec. 19th and will feature Apprenticeships. Register today. 

Both the Childcare Outlook and the Immigration Outlook are sponsored by Cloverdale. These member exclusive events are being recorded and recording requests can be done by email.