Welcome to the first issue of SmartWork, the official quarterly newsletter of WorkforceChicago2.0. Just like the initiative, this newsletter will showcase exemplary practices in employee learning and development in Chicago and beyond. It will give you valuable insights from and about CEOs and companies making a difference in their workforce development and educational strategies. We will provide WorkforceChicago2.0 initiative updates and focus on the Nine Key Components of Exemplary Practice in Employee Learning and Development disseminated by WorkforceChicago2.0 and developed by the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL).

SmartWork will provide you with forward-looking and actionable ideas about employee development and powerful workforce development models to bring your company success.

We invite you to review WorkforceChicago2.0’s four-year history timeline covering our milestones as we enter our fifth year. Please revisit what the Business Leadership Group is all about and hear about the new members. We kicked off our Exemplary Practices Discussion Series workshops and implemented plans for a Higher Education–Business Leader Forum. On the national front, WorkforcePhiladelphia2.0 held its first award event in September and we are launching WorkforceStLouis2.0.

We hope you enjoy our first issue and we’ll see you
next quarter!

Business Leader’s Perspective
Anne Arvia, President & CEO of ShoreBank and WorkforceChicago2.0 Business Leadership Group Member, Shares Her Thoughts on Employee and Business Development

Arvia details ShoreBank’s continued journey along the path of growth and prosperity since receiving the WorkforceChicago2.0 Exemplary Practices award in 2004. In her own words, Arvia discusses the rewards and challenges of investing in educational and developmental programs for employees.

Get Arvia’s perspective

What is the Business Leadership Group?

As strong advocates of continuous learning, BLG members work to influence peers and foster education and training in their own companies and to promote company-to-company learning within the business community. They support WorkforceChicago2.0 in the following ways:

• As an advocate for its visibility and mission

• Attend one annual BLG meeting (in November)

• Attend the annual award event (in June)

• Collaborate on a project for the year that promotes the initiative’s visibility and impact (varies by company)

• Provide financial support

To find out more about the Business Leadership Group, contact Michelle Sanford at (312) 499-2337 or msanford@cael.org

Also, congratulations to IBM for receiving the Learning & Development Company of the Year award and Ted Hoff at IBM for being honored with the Chief Learning Officer of the Year award. Anne Arvia, President and CEO of ShoreBank, was also honored as one of The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking for 2005.

New BLG members in 2005:

View the full list of BLG members

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Exemplary Practices Award Highlights Excellence in Employee Development

Every year, WorkforceChicago2.0 gives annual exemplary practice awards to companies in the region. These companies lead the way in employee training and education programs that can be documented in case studies and shared with companies like yours. We begin the award process with nominations from Chicago-area employers and associations and follow with site visits to selected companies by CAEL’s WorkforceChicago2.0 representatives. We then present the winning companies with awards at a ceremony in June in which Mayor Richard M. Daley and the Business Leadership Group members attend to recognize the winners for their exemplary learning programs and policies.

We have recognized 17 companies since 2002. Each year, more and more applicants highlight their best practices and exciting new developments in the area of employee learning. Read about our most recent award recipients—Conference Plus, Inc. and U.S. Cellular and at www.workforcechicago2.org

Please encourage companies to nominate themselves. Or to nominate your company, contact Michelle Sanford at (312) 499-2337 or msanford@cael.org. We would love to hear your ideas and stories.

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Exemplary Practices Discussion Series (EPDS) Engages Business Leaders

WorkforceChicago2.0’s newest set of executive learning and networking opportunities, Exemplary Practices Discussion Series (EPDS), allow you to engage in discussions with other executives on best practices and the latest developments in employee learning programs. We hold the EPDS throughout the year in the Chicago region in the form of workshops, seminars, or webinars. All events are free of charge.

Our Business Leadership Group companies or Exemplary Practices Award winners host these events. These groups are eager to share their insights on building and maintaining employee development programs and to engage in a dialogue with the greater Chicago business community at these events.

Read about the EPDS events WorkforceChicago2.0 has held to date: “Are You Getting Your Money’s Worth?” hosted by ShoreBank and "Are You Getting the Most Out of Your Learning Investment?” hosted by Northwestern Memorial Hospital.

See “Upcoming Events” in this newsletter for future locations. For more information, contact Michelle Sanford at (312) 499-2337 or msanford@cael.org.

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Workforce2.0 Makes a Positive Impact in Other Regions

In Philadelphia, we launched WorkforcePhiladelphia2.0 in 2004 with the support of an Annie E. Casey Foundation grant. September 2005 featured the first annual WorkforcePhiladelphia2.0 Exemplary Practices award event where we recognized the following three companies for exemplary practices in employee learning and development: Wawa Inc., Citizen’s Bank, and Main Line Health System.


WorkforceStLouis2.0 was just launched in October 2005 in St. Louis with a grant from the Missouri State Department of Economic Development. Business leaders, regional, and state civic leaders and higher education leaders attended a start-up meeting to discuss the initiative’s launch.


To discover more about WorkforcePhiladelphia2.0 or WorkforceStLouis2.0, call Michelle Sanford at (312) 499-2337 or e-mail msanford@cael.org or Gabi Kupfer at (312) 499-2600 or gkupfer@cael.org.

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WorkforceChicago2.0 Develops Higher Education–Business Leader Forum

We will invite leaders in higher education and from corporate Chicago in the spring of 2006 for the first Higher Education–Business Leader Forum. From CAEL’s research and our nationally implemented programs, we have reached two important conclusions regarding the education and training of our region’s workforce:

1. Our region needs greater collaboration between higher education institutions and business to meet the human resource needs of this region.

2. Public policies in Illinois should be more supportive of adult learning and workforce development—from the perspective of employers and from the perspective of higher education.

Regional university presidents and chancellors, corporate CEO’s and executives, and CAEL experts in learner services and workforce development are guiding the development of this forum. Look for more details in upcoming issues of SmartWork! Or contact us to contribute: (312) 499-2337.

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