Overview
Commonwealth Corporation (CommCorp) is a quasi-public agency that was established in 1996 through the merger of two Massachusetts nonprofit organizations: the Industrial Service Program and the Bay State Skills Corporation. The agency was then known as the Corporation for Business, Work and Learning until March 2001, when it began doing business under the name “Commonwealth Corporation” by a resolution of its board of directors. The Legislature formally approved the name change in September 2004.
The agency is responsible for administering and delivering a wide range of publicly and privately funded programs. According to CommCorp’s website, its primary goals are as follows:
- to build regional industry training partnerships that prepare youth and unemployed workers for jobs in demand that lead to higher rates of employment;
- to upgrade the skills of underemployed workers to meet specific employer skill demands leading to job retention, upgrades and wage gains, and;
- to increase the share of youth engaged in education and employment pathways preparing them for post-secondary education and careers.
CommCorp is governed by a 19-member board of directors that includes leaders from the private sector, organized labor, academia, and government.
CommCorp is responsible for administering the Workforce Training Fund Program’s (WTFP’s) General Program Training Grant through an annual contract with the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. The program’s purpose is to enhance business productivity and competitiveness by providing resources to medium-sized and small businesses to upgrade their workforces’ skills. It is funded by the Commonwealth through unemployment tax payments, which are deposited in the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund. The funds are distributed back to businesses that apply and are selected for funding for employee training grants. The trust fund pays 50% of the total cost of a selected business’s employee training programs; the business is responsible for the other 50%. CommCorp works with the Workforce Training Fund Advisory Board, an independent board composed of Massachusetts employers, nonprofit organizations, labor organizations, and experts in workforce training, to select the grant recipients. The table below shows the amounts of the training grants CommCorp awarded through the WTFP General Program during the audit period.
|
Fiscal Year |
Total Number of Recipients |
Total Amount Awarded |
|
2016 |
185 |
$18,160,351 |
|
2017 |
206 |
$17,954,768 |
|
2018 |
152 |
$16,884,235 |
| Date published: | March 19, 2019 |
|---|