Washington Business Winter 2019 | Washington Business | Page 22

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In Their Words
Appointed to serve as the commissioner of the state Employment Security Department in July, Suzan
“Suzi” LeVine comes to the agency with a focus on re-employment of Washington’s underemployed,
unemployed and workers transitioning to new careers, out of the military and out of the justice
system. Taking a break from her statewide listening tour, which she plans to continue throughout
her tenure, LeVine sat down with staff writer Bobbi Cussins. She discussed her passion for ensuring
everyone has access to the “dignity of work,” the complex and varied work of the agency, including
everything from unemployment benefits to the new Paid Family and Medical Leave program to
bonding for employers to help justice-involved job seekers get a second chance and her long history
in workforce training and apprenticeship evangelism.
People know the Employment Security Department (ESD) as the agency
that helps people when they’re unemployed. But, can you share the
agency’s many efforts to support employers and re-employment?
ESD has two customers: Yes, there are the job seekers, but there are also the businesses.
One of the things I want to make sure we’re articulating is the value proposition to
business. With regard to our tools in our toolbox, I want businesses to think about
that as “that’s a benefit to my team,” but also how they might avail themselves of our
SharedWork program; planning in advance so they don’t have to lay people off if they
hit a tough stretch. When you look at Paid Family and Medical Leave that’s coming
online, again, I want that to be a benefit they avail themselves of no matter what size
they are, so they can have greater retention of their staff and better resilience overall
within their staff. I also want them to think of WorkSource as their virtual HR team to
help them acquire the talent they need and partner with them on not just getting that
talent but building talent. I want us to reframe our relationship with business as that
of a “value proposition,” equipping them to do better business here in Washington and
how we can be a part of their solutions.
What role does WorkSource, in partnership with ESD, play in supporting
job seekers and employers looking for skilled workers?
ESD’s role is the administrator of the WIOA, or Workforce Innovation and Opportunity
Act, which is the latest rendition of funding for our workforce systems across the
United States. We’re the administrator of that funding. We do not run WorkSource; the
local Workforce Development Councils run those offices in their respective regions.
In addition to being the administrator of the funding, we are one of the contractors in
that partnership. We have employment specialists — there are a number of different
roles that the ESD plays in the WorkSource offices. Think of those offices as a place
where job seekers are coming to find opportunities and where businesses can come to
find talent. They will coach job seekers on their resumes, interview skills and identify
what the right match is for their background, skills and capabilities. For businesses,
WorkSource will identify what kind of talent they are looking for and some pools they
can tap into.
What advice do you have for employers considering utilizing
apprenticeships in their workplace?
Let me tell you about Home Advisor. Home Advisor is a company that enables people
access to whatever handy people they need around their house and other services.
22 association of washington business
Suzan LeVine
Home Advisor was part of the team that went
from Colorado to Switzerland and their CEO at
the time Chris Terrill was inspired and got on
board. In his home state, CareerWise Colorado
is an intermediary that supports businesses and
schools in making it very turnkey and very easy
for employers to participate in apprenticeship.
Terrill had a number of different needs for his
company and developing talent in both business
operations and things like project management
and IT. We visited Home Advisor and met
with Chris and his HR lead and one of the
apprentices, this young man Tyler. They had
had a robust summer internship program for
many years, but it was the first time they had
done apprenticeship and not in a “standard”
dimension, meaning plumbers, carpenters,
welders, which we need more of and those
apprenticeships are profound and awesome.
But this was in project management. Tyler was
embraced immediately by his fellow employees
as a fellow employee. He was doing real projects
and real learning. For him, it was profound in
helping him understand the value of school and
the value of work and inspiration for what he
may want to do in his future. For the company, he
was immediately productive. He was better than
any intern they’d ever had. He was somebody
they could rely on and expect that perhaps he
would be with them for quite some time.