The Arkansas Office of Commerce has named Cody Waits as the initial director of the recently created Arkansas Workforce Connection division.
Waits was director of the Arkansas Workplace of Competencies Improvement, a division of the Department of Commerce, from 2019 to 2023. He also was deputy director of the Office of Career Education from 2017 to 2019. Most just lately, he was senior federal government engagement manager for Transfr, a virtual reality (VR) based mostly vocational job exploration and pre-apprentice teaching corporation.
“Building a solid workforce is important to ensuring the prolonged-time period success of our economy in Arkansas,” explained Secretary of Commerce Hugh McDonald. “Arkansas Workforce Link will enjoy a significant purpose in overseeing the implementation of workforce systems in the Pure Point out and developing the talent pipeline that our organizations and industries will have to have in the coming decades. With his considerable working experience in workforce enhancement, Cody is the best director for this division, and I glance ahead to doing work with him on this initiative.”
Arkansas Workforce Relationship will be dependable for executing state and federal workforce progress systems that are located in several Commerce divisions and coordinating with local workforce advancement boards.
Arkansas Workforce Link will house the Office of Skills Improvement, Employer Workforce Programming that supports new and increasing enterprises to fulfill their workforce requirements Grownup Training (Title II) Arkansas Rehabilitation Providers (Title IV) Services for the Blind (Title IV) and Work Solutions (Titles I and III).
“Workforce development is a big priority for Governor Sanders and Secretary McDonald, and I am enthusiastic to be element of this work,” reported Waits. “I am honored to join the Office of Commerce’s Arkansas Workforce Link group to assist put together Arkansans for vocation alternatives that satisfy the desires of our state’s growing economic system.”
This division was developed as a result of the Division of Commerce’s realignment course of action, which reorganized the Arkansas Division of Workforce Expert services into three new divisions: Re-employment, Arkansas Workforce Connection, and Workforce Plan and Innovation.