The Impact of Regional Sectoral Training Partnerships: Findings from America's Promise

The America’s Promise Job-Driven Grant program (America’s Promise) was designed to develop and expand regional partnerships among employers, economic development agencies, workforce investment systems, and education and training providers to build a pipeline of skilled American workers in high demand industries experiencing domestic labor shortages. Grantees, through the support of their established partnerships, offered tuition-free education and job training to American workers that addressed the immediate needs of the regional labor market. Education and job training took place in the form of classroom training and work-based learning opportunities, in addition to supports such as case management, job placement services, and necessary wraparound supportive services.

To estimate the impact of participating in the America’s Promise impact study, we compare the earnings and the employment rate of America’s Promise participants to a matched-comparison group of people who received light-touch employment services through the Wagner-Peyser program. We identify the matched comparison group using partial exact matching with propensity score matching based on individual characteristics and employment histories. We find that participation in America’s Promise led to a 6 percentage point increase employment in the fourth quarter following program enrollment and a 4 percentage point increase in employment in the eighth quarter. America’s Promise participants also earned $2,697 more than the matched comparison group, on average, in the second year following program enrolment. Positive effects on employment and earnings were evident as early as the first quarter following program enrollment, consistent with the short classroom-based learning and emphasis on work-based learning through employer partnerships. Finally, we use Bayesian methods to estimate impacts by partnership and find that impacts vary across partnerships, although we do not find patterns by industry or grantee type. The primary impacts from this study were estimated between July 2020 and June 2022. Therefore, results should be interpreted in the context of a labor market heavily influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic.