NoCo Works: Regional collaborative workforce effort begins today

GREELEY — Today marks the official, public launch of a new collaborative workforce solutions system called NoCo Works.

Members of the leadership team unveiled the program today during the Northern Colorado Workforce Symposium, an annual program in Larimer and Weld counties that links businesses with strategies for finding and keeping workers.

NoCo Works, which has been under development for months, ties 26 regional partners from the two counties together to provide a one-stop shop for employment solutions.

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“Northern Colorado is one economic entity. Forty percent of our workshed is shared across county lines,” said Nicholas Spezza, co-chair of the effort. Spezza is an associate vice president of academic affairs at Aims Community College and a member of the Weld County Workforce Development Board.

“Today, we are launching a new idea to focus our work, prioritize our energy,” he said. He pointed to an official declaration of support signed by all 26 partners; partners include colleges, counties, cities, economic-development entities, chambers of commerce and others.

NoCo Works subdivides into six areas of work, said Kelsey Baun, regional talent program manager for the Larimer County Economic and Workforce Development agency. In an interview with BizWest, she listed the areas as training, business resources, work-based learning, talent pipeline, economic inclusion and external barriers.

Each category has its own “action-oriented subcommittee,” she said. External barriers also has a hired consultant working to address issues such as childcare deficiencies, housing and transportation, all of which can limit the ability of people to go to work or stay at work.

The subcommittees will harness existing programs and be champions of what needs to be done to overcome barriers, she said.

Spezza said that more than 200 participants are bringing the program to reality. “Why? Because we care what happens in our communities. We want everyone to have the same opportunity to thrive.”

Bill Johnson, director of human resources for the Yoder Family of Companies, a Weld County-based company that includes auto dealerships, repair shops and vehicle finance entities, said the NoCo Works strategy is working for companies like his.

“We’ve always been looking for ways to be an employer of choice and to support important causes (in the community),” Johnson said.

In working to hire and retain workers to support the company’s growth, one of the barriers that arose was the lack of adequate child-care support for workers. 

“Finding affordable child care can be a huge challenge for people who want to go to work,” he said. By providing child care, companies like his, he said, can find a new reservoir of workers.

“We want employees to feel comfortable about the care of their children. We wanted to create a family-friendly work environment where people can focus on their jobs because they know their children are cared for. This came together because of NoCo Works,” he said.

He said that child care accessible to Yoder employees will become available in May 2024. And even before it is available, “We’re already retaining employees now with them just knowing that it is coming.”

He estimated that of the 300 or so employees in the company, about 18% will be able to use the child-care services.

Sylvia Robinson, a part of Fort Collins-based Tolmar Inc.’s organization and talent development team, said NoCo Works has joined a patchwork of programs from throughout the region to help employers find solutions.

She said Tolmar, a pharmaceutical-manufacturing company, is large enough to be able to devote someone to check out programs throughout the area, but most companies do not have the resources to do that. Now, NoCo Works will pull those resources together in one place.

“Those different workforce alliances can plug in under one umbrella and everyone can pull in the same direction,” she said.

And the need is great. Eric Lea, co-chair of NoCo Works and a recruiter for Robert Half Talent Solutions, said employers not only have to consider filling new positions but to retain the people they have. “Forty-six percent of workers are actively looking for jobs. So if you have a workforce of 10, half are looking for another job,” he said.