Purpose & Objectives

The purpose of this demonstration project is to train and place 3,000 dislocated workers in telecommunications and information technology jobs over a two-year period. The project plans to concentrate 80% of its efforts in targeted rural communities and the remaining 20% in urban areas. Sixty percent of the employment opportunities will be targeted at the call center industry, while the other 40% will be focused on other telecommunications and information technology career paths. Some of these careers include telecommunications equipment installers, network administrators, and computer repair.

The intent of this program is to:

  1. Train 3,000 dislocated workers for telecommunications and information technology related employment;
  2. Create training curricula and assessment strategies that identify and bridge the gap between the current skills of the labor market and the skills necessary for employment in the targeted industries;
  3. Work with the business community so that this curricula is accepted by the telecommunications and information technology industries in New Mexico and ensure that completion of these training programs leads to employment in the telecommunications and information technology fields;
  4. Complete community audits targeted at both the supply and demand sides of the labor market for the telecommunications and information technology industries; and
  5. Integrate the Consortium as a partner in the workforce development system.

The program features a complete system of recruitment, assessment, training, certification, collaboration with employers and guaranteed employment for minority and other individuals in the hardest-to-employ categories, such as welfare recipients, dislocated workers, first time entrants to the workforce, and economically disadvantaged individuals.

Key benchmarks for success will be:

Goal Objective
Enroll project participants. 3,000 participants are enrolled.
Target group receives assessments. 95% of the target group completes the assessment process.
Target group receives remedial education. 85% of those participants requiring remedial education complete the training.
Target group receives specific occupational training. 90% of participants involved in occupational training complete the program.
Target group secures employment. 88% of the participants who received occupational training or remedial training enter into employment.
Target group retains employment. 85% of those participants who entered into employment will retain their jobs for at least 6 months.
Identify targeted industries labor market and occupational skill level needs. 100% of the targeted communities will have a completed community audit.
New job opportunities will be created in the telecommunications and information technology industries. 3,000 new jobs in the targeted industries will be created in New Mexico.
Collaborate with targeted industries so that the new training curricula are accepted. 75% of the companies participating in the project will accept participants trained through the project.

The New Mexico Trains Program will develop a database to gather management and performance information. Additionally, the Trains program will utilize the existing performance data collected by the New Mexico Department of Labor for the Workforce Investment Act. Both of these data sources will be employed to continuously evaluate the effectiveness of the program against the project plan. The Executive Director and the Field Director will be responsible for analyzing the performance data and then taking corrective action when necessary.