The Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership (The Partnership) is the non-profit umbrella organization that oversees one of the largest public workforce systems in the country. As the designated administrator of federal workforce development funding for the City of Chicago and Cook County, The Partnership manages a network of approximately 70 community-based organizations, including American Job Centers and Career Centers, serving youth and adults. The organization also oversees a diverse portfolio of workforce initiatives representing corporate and philanthropic funds leveraging non-federal workforce development funding. For more information, visit https://chicookworks.org/.
The Business Relations and Economic Development Team
The Partnership has a team of four Business Relations Specialists who focus on employer outreach and facilitate these relationships at the American Job Centers and Career Centers in its network.
Employer relationships are critical to workforce development. Working with businesses to understand where there is a need for a skilled workforce, and facilitating career-seeker training for those positions, is an imperative to any successful workforce ecosystem.
Serving High-Demand, High-Growth Sectors
The Partnership’s network includes sector centers that focus on high-demand, high-growth industries, including Healthcare; Hospitality and Tourism; Transportation, Distribution and Logistics (TDL); and Information Technology (IT). In addition, the organization leverages public and private sector funding to meet employer needs in the construction and clean energy sectors. The Partnership works closely with employers in these sectors to ensure the career seekers served by its network connect with ready-to-hire employers in Chicago and suburban Cook County. The organization also produces hiring events, allowing career seekers and employers to meet one-on-one, resulting in hundreds of second interviews and conditional offers each year.
What is the Partnership’s “Secret Sauce”? (Hiring Events)
The Partnership’s secret sauce is its ability to produce successful hiring events. The organization aligns employers, community partners, and agencies around shared data, goals, follow-up and accountability—powered by Talent Pipeline Management (TPM) discipline and Apprenticeship Illinois pathways that turn collaboration into real opportunity. This includes:
- Unified approach for employers, community, and agency provider
- Cross-sector alignment
- Employer Led Design(s)
- Community Centered Access
- Agency Coordination
This collective approach provides deep business engagement, along with pre-and post-information collection via survey and employer pain-points to address current and future human capital needs assessments.
During Program Year 2024:
- The Healthcare Sector Center served 20+ employer-partners and placed 170 career seekers into employment.
- The Hospitality and Tourism Sector Center served 192 employer partners and placed nearly 150 residents into employment with wages ranging from $18 an hour to $182,000 a year. This Partnership and local sponsors host Hospitality Hires Chicago each year; the 9th annual event is scheduled for May 20, 2026, in Chicago’s Loop. More than 2,500 career seekers pre-registered for last year’s event, where more than 60 employers conducted on-the-spot interviews of more than 820 attendees, and more than a third of attendees received conditional offers.
- The TDL Sector Center engaged with more than 100 employers and facilitated more than 28 regional hiring events.
- The IT Sector Center served more than 40 employer-partners and placed 38 career seekers into positions with wages up to $130,000 a year.
- Clean Energy Sector: The Partnership’s network also operates two hubs in the State of Illinois’ 13-hub network, as part of the Illinois Clean Jobs Workforce Network Program, funded by Illinois’ Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA). The Program offers workforce development to historically underrepresented communities and residents and focuses on serving residents of Chicago’s south and west sides. The program trains more than 400 career seekers at no cost, ready to hire, by clean energy employers.
“I thought I couldn’t do this due to my background or not having the qualifications and they said, ‘Oh no, that’s why you CAN do it.” –Isis T Success quote from CEJA participant about obtaining an associate engineering design tech position at ComEd.
- Construction Sector: The Partnership works with the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority (The Tollway) to recruit and place individuals in the construction sector. ConstructionWorks, powered by the Illinois Tollway and administered by The Partnership, is a free program designed with a clear focus on diversity and the specific goal of preparing historically underrepresented individuals, including minorities, women, and veterans, for entry into apprenticeships and training programs that lead to rewarding careers in the high-demanding construction industry. ConstructionWorks has propelled hundreds toward careers in heavy highway and related construction. To date, 566 people have enrolled, 140 have secured union apprenticeships, 76 have completed trade training, and 35 are already on the job—building both careers and communities.
Lenell G. was laid off in July of 2023. He worked with The Partnership’s network and enrolled in Construction Works. He combined WIOA-funded support with the ConstructionWorks program and achieved his goal of joining a union and working in the construction industry.
Serving the Region During Challenging Times
During challenging times, The Partnership also works with employers anticipating layoffs and have filed a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) notice to help them avoid downsizing if possible, and if not, to help residents who may be losing their jobs find good opportunities. We provide immediate, on-site assistance that includes employee workshops, career counseling, job placement support, and access to retraining programs.
Over the past year, The Partnership received 70 WARN notices which resulted in serving 28 employers and 3,200 residents.
Covering Training Costs and Making Apprenticeship Connections
Offering current and new employees training to ensure continued career growth is another important facet of our work with employers. During Program Year 2024, The Partnership:
Reimbursed employers approximately $257,000 for Incumbent Worker Training Projects
Invested more than $2.1 million for 361 individuals: On-the-Job training for 252 adults; 91 dislocated (laid off) workers and 18 youth.
A+ for Apprenticeships
Employers and career seekers know apprenticeships work!
The Partnership aligns its apprenticeship initiative with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Registered Apprenticeship Program and the Illinois Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity, expanding beyond traditionally known trades, to promoting the model in non-traditional industries and occupations nationwide. Employers gain from higher retention rates – studies show the average retention rate for apprentices completing their respective training programs is 91%.
The Partnership’s apprenticeship-related community partners include Chicago Public Schools, City Colleges of Chicago, and the University of Illinois. The organization also works with dozens of employers and industry organizations such as Building Owners and Managers Association, Illinois Manufacturers Association, and CVS Health, Abt Electronics and American Vintage Homes.
Over the past program year, The Partnership’s Apprenticeship Illinois Expansion initiative engaged and worked with close to 100 regional businesses and hosted more than 100 outreach events, supporting a myriad of companies in developing, sourcing, and registering their programs in 20 new and/or existing Registered Apprenticeship Programs with US Department of Labor in the Healthcare, Clean Energy, Retail-Industrial, Hospitality, Construction, Education, Early Childhood Care and IT industries and Skilled Trades sectors.
These extensive employer relationships have resulted in various sector partnership employer collaborations, including the following sector partnerships: Black Contractors Owners and Executives, Construction (Union/ Non-Union and Ancillary positions), Healthcare Sector, Workforce Practitioners, and Early Childcare.
