About Us

Our Board

WSRCA is led by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of a group of community leaders appointed by local elected officials and charged with planning and oversight responsibilities for workforce programs and services in our nine-county region. Board members are the “trustees” or guardians of the state’s workforce development system. We have 25+ recognized community leaders serving on our Board, from across many areas of expertise including, business; community-based organizations; economic development; education; government; literacy; labor; and vocational rehabilitation. Our Board of Directors contributes significant amounts of time, talent, and energy to further our organizational mission of empowering the workforce of the Rural Capital Area.

What We Believe

• We believe our 9-county Rural Capital Area is the best place in the country to live, work and do business
• We want to spread the word that our region boasts an incredibly skilled workforce ready to attract enterprise to Texas. By focusing on the needs of employers, we help give our Rural Capital Area communities the competitive edge necessary to draw business here and compete on a global level
• We want to create value for employers, individuals, and communities, by directing them to our outstanding child care services, training providers, and workforce partners, to foster opportunities to achieve and sustain economic prosperity
• We are proud to celebrate what makes our area workforce system unique, and to highlight the investments being made to achieve our vision and mission, and to ensure our strategic goals and objectives are met
• We want to be good neighbors

Our Vision

Our urban and rural employers will have a highly educated and skilled workforce and our residents will have the competencies, skills and education to become self-sufficient and live a quality life.

Our Mission

Build an employer-driven workforce system that meets the demands of a global economy by actively involving industry and business leaders in workforce development decisions that allows them to: identify labor and economic trends, obtain customized training and hire high skilled workers, while simultaneously promoting the welfare, orientation, assessment, education, training and placement of job seekers who are searching for profitable and self-sufficient employment.

Our Goals

Goal 1. Enhance and sustain the integrated career development system.

Goal 2. Increase the number of employers utilizing business services.

Goal 3. Increase incumbent worker training opportunities for small and mid-size employers.

Goal 4. Inform and educate employers and job seekers about the services available at the career centers.

Who We Serve

The Rural Capital Area (RCA) has a population (as of 2018) of 1,043,000. The region has grown more rapidly than the U.S. for the past decade, growing 36% versus 8% for the U.S. The regional population growth rate reached its lowest level in 2012 at 2.3%, still over three times the U.S. rate of growth.

The region’s population growth has historically been driven by migration of people from across the U.S.: in the last decade, 73% of new population was due to domestic migration. Migration has increased in recent years and outpaces births by more than 2-to-1: in 2018, 26,300 people moved to the Rural Capital Area from other parts of the U.S. and 12,200 births occurred.

The veteran population in the Rural Capital Area (as of 2019) stands at 79,502, with more than 30,000 veterans participating in the region’s labor force.

As of June 2021, the region boasted a civilian labor force of about 576,941 in a diverse range of industries.

In addition to the existing educated workforce, the Rural Capital Area has a rising number of residents in the workforce pipeline through the community college system. The number of students graduating from the Austin Community College (ACC) system grew to an all-time high of 4,400 graduates in 2017. Enrollment levels at ACC peaked at the tail end of the recession in 2011 and have fallen slightly to 64,000 students by 2017.

Enrollment at the University of Texas at Austin peaked in 2013 at 56,400 students but has since fallen to 55,000 by 2017. Graduation levels at the University of Texas are near all-time highs after peaking in 2016 and dipping slightly to reach 16,600 graduates in 2017. As one of the nation’s top public schools producing thousands of graduates a year, the University of Texas remains a significant source of educated workers for Austin and the Rural Capital Area.

What We Do

Business Services:

Bolstered by our strong relationships with our business and community partners, as well as education providers such as Austin Community College, WSRCA adapts quickly to any high-demand training needs within the region, to support the industries fueling the local economy.

WSRCA maintains a team of dedicated Business Services Specialists to assist employers at every stage of their workforce needs:

• Recruiting
• Interviewing and Hiring
• Virtual Interactive Job Fairs
• Internet-Based Job Postings
• Assistance with Customized Skill Training
• Wage and Labor Market Information
• Employee Layoff Assistance

WSRCA recognizes that regional employers must have a highly qualified and skilled workforce in order to compete. It has resources available to upgrade the skills of an organization’s employees to meet demand.

Some of the funding opportunities to train an employer’s workforce include the Skills for Small Business program, the Skills Development Fund, the Texas Industry Partnership program, and the High Demand Job Training program.

Job Seeker Services:

For job seekers, WSRCA offers an array of no-cost services and programs that are designed to guide and support them at different stages of their search.

Job seekers may choose to use the information and links available on WSRCA’s website to begin building connections with employers or decide to visit one of its many career centers, where visitors can access computers, telephones and other resources at no cost.

Either way, with Workforce Solutions in their corner, job seekers are not alone.

Just some of the services WSRCA’s Talent Development Team can assist job seekers with:

• Career and Benefits Exploration
• Computer and Internet Access
• Education and Skills Training
• Online/Onsite Hiring Fairs
• How-To Workshops
• Interview Counseling
• Job Search Support
• Labor Market Information
• Resume Support
• Self-Assessment Tools
• Unemployment Benefits Information
• Veterans Services
• Vocational Rehabilitation Services for People with Disabilities
• Wage Claim and Child Labor Information
• Youth Services for Out of School Individuals (ages 16-24)

Child Care Services:

WSRCA’s Child Care Services (CCS) program promotes long term self-sufficiency by enabling parents to work, attend skills training or education courses by offering affordable, accessible child care options.

The CCS team supports families, providers and the communities within the nine-county region by assisting eligible parents with tuition assistance for children 12 years old and younger, and for children with disabilities 18 years old and younger, and by providing child care technical assistance and training to local child care providers.

WSRCA is committed to leveraging workforce resources and partnerships across all industries to deliver more value for the community.