Earlier this summer, the Department of Labor (DOL) announced an online toolkit to help local workforce boards and agencies implement the On the Job Training (OJT) programming through the Workforce Investment Act and National Emergency Grants (NEG).

The toolkit, located on the web at: http://ojttoolkit.workforce3one.org/page/home has all of the details. It is very comprehensive and is broken down into several areas on strategy, implementation and measurement.

The site is very specific on who is eligible and how the resources available for OJT are to be used. For those local areas that have not started a program, the site is very useful and user friendly.

For those of us who work in the field, we know that on boarding new employees can be time consuming and costly. This is a great way for you to work with your local workforce board to help offset some of those costs and find another avenue for new employees.

There are also materials on the site to deliver a one-day workshop on how to implement the OJT program that is available through DOL. It may be something your local workforce board may want to download and deliver. Everything to run the seminar is there.

If you and your organization are involved in a DOL OJT project, please let us know! We would enjoy sharing your story in a blog posting. Please email Jennifer Homer at ASTD, jhomer@astd.org.

ASTD goes back to Capitol Hill with Chapter Leaders!

During the ASTD Chapter Leaders Conference in Washington, D.C., in late September/early October, ASTD is hosting its second "Congressional Conversations" event on Thursday, 9/30. If you are an ASTD chapter leader, we encourage you to register for the conference and join us on Capitol Hill for Congressional Conversations. Registration information is included here: http://alc2010.eventbrite.com/.

The ASTD Public Policy Council will help you get ready by providing email templates to request appointments with Congressional staff, talking points for your visit, and a series of preparatory webcasts on 9/1 and 9/23 to provide an orientation. Questions should be directed to ASTD Public Policy: Jennifer Homer (jhomer@astd.org) or C. Michael Ferraro (ferraro@trainingsolutions.com).

We look forward to welcoming ASTD chapter leaders to this event!