Innovation Fund - Portfolio of Investments

INNOVATION FUND ROUND II

Round II of the WIRED Innovation Fund launched September 10, 2008. Applications for funding were accepted in two categories: Demonstration Investments (between $35,000 and $100,000) and Implementation Investments (between $100,001 and $250,000). Funding decisions were made by the RWA/WIRED Steering Committee on December 4, 2008. 

Exploratory Investments Awarded December 11, 2008 

Articulation Agreement Task Force    $35,000

University of Wisconsin - Parkside

Funds support a task force responsible for forging new articulation agreements designed to seamlessly transfer students from two-year to four-year programs that support M7 driver industries: advanced manufacturing; water industry; financial services; “green industry”; and healthcare.

Project-Based Training    $30,000

Running Rebels

Partners will develop 7 project centers that train young adults in skilled work while engaging them is a cycle of learning, doing, earning a wage, receiving personal coaching, and planning for future careers.

STEM 7 Clearinghouse    $35,000

Engineers & Scientists of Milwaukee

ESM will create a blueprint for the development, implementation and management of the “STEM 7 Clearinghouse” to connect STEM-related resources and needs in the M7 region.

Sustainable Management Degree Development   $33,610

University of Wisconsin - Extension

Funds approved to coordinate, and support Milwaukee7 participation in a Business Advisory Board for the development of an online Sustainable Management degree offered through the UW-Extension and five UW campuses.

Water Industry Educational Programs   $34,500

Discovery World - Milwaukee

Partners will summarize available K-12 or technical college education/training programs relative to current and future needs of the water industry. A plan will be developed to integrate existing programming with future needs and identify programming to fill gaps.

Demonstration or Implementation Investments Awarded December 11, 2008

BizLearn College Initiative   $50,000

BizStarts Milwaukee, Inc.

Funds will support BizLearn’s comprehensive, multi-faceted plan to stimulate, champion, coordinate and develop more college student entrepreneurial courses, programs and experiences in the region.

BizStarts Venture Track   $145,000

BizStarts Milwaukee, Inc.

Funds will support the hiring of a coordinator to implement Venture Track, a series of programs designed to substantially increase the number of innovative, fast-growing companies in the Milwaukee 7 region by creating a defined pathway of mentoring, education and connections for entrepreneurs.

Building Engineering Aptitude through Robotics (BEAR)    $66,600

Spotted Eagle, Inc.

Project connects the BotsIQ robotics program with the 21st century learning framework to create a series of courses that will engage at-risk students in hands-on, practical applications of multiple STEM concepts within the classroom and expose them to educational opportunities and career pathways in the manufacturing industry. 

English Learner Manufacturing Skills Pipeline Regional Entry Project   $100,000

Milwaukee Area Workforce Investment Board

Project will create the beginning of a bridge program leading to Advanced Manufacturing career ladders by providing Hmong and Hispanic English Language Learner (ELL) incumbent workers with foundational manufacturing technical training in their primary languages while accelerating their learning of workplace English using contextualized ELL curricula

Opening Doors to the Future  $74,995

CESA#1

Project will assist schools in effectively delivering relevant, innovative career education to students and parents, ensuring that students receive high-quality career education and information about regional career opportunities throughout their K-12 school experience.

Project Lead The Way Bridge Curriculum  $41,750

Waukesha County Technical College

Funds will support the development of a PLTW Bridge Curriculum that aligns existing PLTW curriculum with transcripted credits curriculum at partnering technical colleges in order to provide students the opportunity to earn college credits.  

Spreenkler     $120,000

A new program, Spreenkler hires college students, builds their technical and soft skills through training, testing, multi-faceted mentoring and real project experience directly with business throughout the Milwaukee seven county region. Goals are to create economic growth by retaining more of the best, brightest and talented students in the region.

'Think Insurance' Initiative   $120,000

Wisconsin Foundation for Independent Colleges

Through partnerships among WFIC, the insurance industry and public, private and technical colleges in the 7-county area, this innovative talent development program will create a range of insurance career pathways. The program will foster relationships between colleges and the insurance industry and provide young people opportunities for learning and employment.

INNOVATION FUND ROUND I

Round I of the WIRED Innovation Fund launched April 11, 2008. Applications for funding were accepted in two categories: Exploratory Investments (up to $35,000) and Demonstration Investments (between $35,000 and $100,000). Funding decisions were made by the RWA/WIRED Steering Committee on June 11, 2008.

Round I Demonstration Investment Awards 6/11/08

Industrial Machine Repair Bootcamp

Lead Organization: Gateway Technical College

Investment Amount:   $94,185

Program Summary: Project will prepare under- and unemployed individuals to fill entry level jobs as IMR Technicians, and will provide employers with a training program to upgrade the skill level of incumbent workers. Builds on a bootcamp model already in existence for CNC and welding. Gateway Technical College instructors will design and develop curriculum that can be replicated; recruit and assess 18 trainees; provide training in an eight hours/five days per week format; include soft skills training, case management, and post-placement support. Target completion rate for the program is 80%.

Manufacturing Careers for Youth

Lead Organization: WRTP/Big Step

Investment Amount:   $97,209

Program Summary: Project would build on existing model to make Milwaukee high school students aware of the opportunities in manufacturing and help them prepare for manufacturing careers. An industry specialist, sited at MPS, will assist guidance counselors by working with individual students and groups in career planning activities. WRTP/Big Step will develop age-appropriate materials for students that provide information on careers in manufacturing. Project goals are to reach 150 students with one-on-one conversations about careers in manufacturing; reach 350 students through job fairs, classes, and presentations; enroll 15 graduates in Entry Level Manufacturing CNC Certificate and Welding classes

STEAM - 21^st Century Learning meets FIRST Robotics   

Lead Organization: CESA#1

Investment Amount:   $99,896

Program Summary: The STEAM project will create a 21^st century "classroom" consisting of 15 to 16 students from 5 school districts, who will create a documentary video chronicling their efforts to reinvigorate a diverse urban robotics team for the 2009 season. FIRST Robotics Competition Team #1268 will become a model for implementing STEM-related programming in an urban setting. A second documentary, "Making STEAM," will chronicle the 21^st century learning experience of the STEAM participants.

Exploratory Investment Awards 6/11/08

IT Architecture and Modeling

Lead Organization: Gateway Technical College

Investment Amount:  $35,000  / Leveraged $50,585

Program Summary: IT talent development program that will develop skills and career paths in "IT Architecture and Modeling". The Exploratory Phase will be focused primarily on Capacity Development for delivery of IT Architecture and Modeling program.

Milwaukee SOLAR

Lead Organization: Milwaukee Community Service Corps

Investment Amount:  $20,000

Program Summary: MCSC wishes to explore a demonstration project that trains, through MCSC's established educational infrastructure, disadvantaged young adults to become certified installation technicians of solar electric and solar thermal units. Exploratory funds will employ an LTE to facilitate meetings, coordinate technical assistance, assemble curriculum and implement solar electric demonstrations.

Careers for Young Adults in the Emerging Water Industry

Lead Organization: Milwaukee Community Service Corps

Investment Amount:  $25,000

Program Summary: explore a regional collaboration in SE Wisconsin that prepares disadvantaged young adults for career opportunities in the emerging water industry. The funds will be used to develop a concept plan that tests the feasibility of entry level work experiences with groundwater, surface water, and other water quality improvements at local, regional, and international levels that place disadvantaged young adults on career ladders.

Strategic Plan

Lead Organization: Wisconsin Community Services, Inc.

Investment Amount:  $29,344

Program Summary: Expand and replicate a Workforce Development Collaborative that will educate, train, connect and support urban, ex-offenders with demand-driven employer needs in Milwaukee, Waukesha, and Racine Counties.  The Strategic Plan will be the result of a three-month process involving the partners listed, and facilitated by experts from the Annie Casey Foundation. A second tier opportunity is to leverage this strategic, multi-county collaboration for "Second Chance Act" federal funding.

Workplace Diversity Toolkit

Lead Organization: Waukesha County Economic Development Corporation 

Investment Amount: $33,310

Program Summary: Exploratory project will research workforce diversity best practices in the Milwaukee 7 area; recruit 25 "Workforce Diversity Champion" participants; and convene "Workforce Diversity Toolkit" CONVERSAcTION. Partners intend to apply for subsequent Innovation Funding for the subsequent demonstration and implementation of the Workplace Diversity Toolkit, which will offer an original self-assessment that both (1) informs employers about the benefits of embracing company-wide operational diversity and (2) connects them to inventive resources that expose diversity opportunities in their workplace.

Bridging Valley Communities: A Network Model of Economic Development

Lead Organization: Menomonee Valley Partners 

Investment Amount: $24,000

Program Summary: MVP plans to develop civic networking strategies to enhance businesses' retention and recruitment efforts; connect Valley companies to the region's best resources in talent development; and direct employees - and their purchasing power - into the surrounding neighborhoods to enhance the development of commercial and residential districts surrounding the Valley. This "open source" model of economic development takes a comprehensive approach, integrating diverse factors that impact a business's, and a region's, long term connectivity and prosperity.

Energy and Automation Course

Lead Organization: Saint Thomas More High School    

Investment Amount: $33,000

Program Summary: Funds will allow Saint Thomas More High School to investigate an "Energy and Automation" course, which will align with current programs and introduce students to cutting edge technology and science. Immediate use of funds will go towards a two-week summer pilot program to test the feasibility of the course with a core group of students. The course would focus on learning how energy is made, transported, and used with a special emphasis on renewable energy sources. The automation aspect of the course would involve learning computer programming and interfaces.

ConnectED

Lead Organization: Milwaukee Public Schools

Investment Amount:  $35,000

Program Summary: Exploratory project to build M7-based curriculum in green technology and the water industry for STEM-education program Project Lead the Way (PLTW). Six month collaboration will bring together partners, identify roles, investigate national models for expanding Project Lead the Way curriculum, tap into local expertise in green technologies and the waste industry, and develop a plan to implement new curriculum across the M7 region and tie area high schools to Workforce Investment Boards with youth employment initiatives. Project will hire a consultant to bring together partners and coordinate activities.

Awarded Projects 7/29/08

Demonstration Investments:

Facilitated Employment Program for Offenders

Lead Organization: Kaiser Group, Inc. 

Investment Amount:  $78,329 

Program Summary: Building on a pilot program in 2007 for Huber inmates, project will expand intensive Case Management services such as one-on-one counseling, job preparedness workshops, and basic education and training opportunities with Business Services such as individualized job marketing and development, employer linkages, and retention services to inmates at Waukesha County Jail or on probation/parole. Project budget includes a FTE Case Manager working one-on-one with the customer on securing basic needs and a FTE Business Services Representative who finds and builds job leads on the customer's behalf. After successful job placement (100 individuals to be placed), retention services would be provided for up to one year.

Exploratory Investments Awarded 7/29/08:

Northwest Side CDC "Green Collar" Job Training in 30^th Street Industrial Corridor

Lead Organization: Northwest Side Community Development Corporation

Investment Amount: $35,000

Program Summary: Northwest Side CDC proposes to contract with MAWIB to provide training for "green collar" jobs in leading edge technology companies locating in the Milwaukee Technology Incubator Center in Milwaukee's 30^th Street Industrial Corridor. One company, Paradigm Sensors, plans to hire 25 workers with an emphasis on neighborhood workers who are WIA eligible. An evaluation of the first two training cycles for neighborhood workers will lead to an additional outcome of the project - a "best practices" manual to be used to design on-going training for green jobs in the Corridor.

Southeastern Wisconsin Pre-College Capacity Building Project

Lead Organization: Wisconsin Foundation of Independent Colleges

Investment Amount: $25,000

Program Summary: Exploratory project will gather partners to collaborate and strategize around six major goals:

• 1) College Access: Develop strategies which will increase numbers served and improve matriculation rates
• 2) School-to-Careers: Connect students to the world of work and especially where Wisconsin based career opportunities will likely be strong.
• 3) College Support Services: Develop plans to support students in college to increase graduation rates
• 4) Develop partnerships with sectors of the economy that will likely need professional workers in the future: insurance, financial services, Health Care, Geriatrics, Water-related activities, and Green Entrepreneurship.
• 5) Student Leadership Development: Engage participants from all programs in identifying and planning best pre-college services
• 6) Construction of pre-college centers shared by all interested pre-college partners

 2^nd Chance Partners for Education/Racine County Manufacturing

Lead Organization: Racine Area Manufacturers and Commerce

Investment Amount: $25,760

Program Summary: Exploratory funds requested to expand the existing 2^nd Chance Partners for Education model to the Racine area, with a focus on manufacturing companies. Project will identify and place six at-risk high school students in a job experience setting with six different Racine area manufacturing companies. Hours spent at the sponsoring company will be combined with classroom hours, allowing for high school credits for graduation.