6105-S

AN ACT Relating to high performance work organizations; amending RCW 43.330.050, 43.330.060, and 43.330.080; adding new sections to chapter 43.330 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an effective date.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the future of our state's economy and well-being is firmly linked to the world marketplace. In today's global economy, only those firms that can deliver high-quality goods and services, provide customers with greater product variety and customization, introduce new products more frequently, and create production systems that are more complex than those that can be operated by unskilled workers will succeed.

The legislature further finds that Washington businesses with well-trained, motivated workers and a work environment that is organized to take advantage of the employees' skills are essential to be competitive in the global economy. These firms have replaced inflexible traditional work organizations with high-performance work organizations characterized by: An emphasis on customer service and quality; flexibly structured manufacturing or service delivery systems; and highly trained workers who are given responsibility commensurate with the level of training.

The legislature further finds that the same commitment to customer service and quality shown by private sector firms that have adopted high-performance work organizations should also be embraced by public agencies. Adoption of these principles can increase government efficiency and responsiveness to constituent needs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 43.330 RCW to read as follows:

The department shall establish services and programs that promote the high-performance work organization model and assist firms in implementing high-performance practices. The department may undertake activities including, but not limited to:

(1) Establishing a clearinghouse of quality-related information;

(2) Maintaining a resource directory, including firms employing high-performance practices;

(3) Developing a quality starter kit that provides firms with information on how to begin performance improvement programs;

(4) Facilitating the establishment of quality networks and mentorship programs;

(5) Giving priority consideration for its assistance programs to firms that implement high-performance practices;

(6) Sponsoring quality improvement events; and

(7) Developing, in consultation with the state board for community and technical colleges, a standard curriculum on total quality for use by the state's community and technical colleges.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 43.330 RCW to read as follows:

(1) The director shall take action as necessary to structure the department itself as a public sector model of a high-performance work organization. The department shall institute policies that: Make improving customer service and quality control the priority of each agency employee; reduce administrative layer within the department; extend decision-making authority; and increase employee involvement in workplace decisions.

(2) The department shall implement management practices that are most likely to result in improved agency performance. These practices may include, but are not limited to:

(a) Total quality management;

(b) Continuous improvement programs;

(d) Constituent satisfaction programs; and

(e) Increased training of agency employees.

(3) The department shall periodically review the impact of these practices on the performance of the department and implement additional management practices as it deems appropriate.

Sec. 4. RCW 43.330.050 and 1993 c 280 s 7 are each amended to read as follows:

The department shall be responsible for promoting community and economic development within the state by assisting the state's communities to increase the quality of life of their citizens and their economic vitality, and by assisting the state's businesses to maintain and increase their economic competitiveness, while maintaining a healthy environment. Community and economic development efforts shall include: Efforts to increase economic opportunity; local planning to manage growth; the promotion and provision of affordable housing and housing-related services; providing public infrastructure; business and trade development; assisting firms and industrial sectors to increase their competitiveness and the skills of their work force, and to implement high-performance practices; fostering the development of minority and women-owned businesses; facilitating technology development, transfer, and diffusion; community services and advocacy for low-income persons; and public safety efforts. The department shall have the following general functions and responsibilities:

(1) Provide advisory assistance to the governor, other state agencies, and the legislature on community and economic development matters and issues;

(2) Assist the governor in coordinating the activities of state agencies that have an impact on local government and communities;

(3) Cooperate with the legislature and the governor in the development and implementation of strategic plans for the state's community and economic development efforts;

(4) Solicit private and federal grants for economic and community development programs and administer such programs in conjunction with other programs assigned to the department by the governor or the legislature;

(5) Cooperate with and provide technical and financial assistance to local governments, businesses, and community-based organizations serving the communities of the state for the purpose of aiding and encouraging orderly, productive, and coordinated development of the state, and, unless stipulated otherwise, give additional consideration to local communities and individuals with the greatest relative need and the fewest resources;

(6) Participate with other states or subdivisions thereof in interstate programs and assist cities, counties, municipal corporations, governmental conferences or councils, and regional planning commissions to participate with other states and provinces or their subdivisions;

(7) Hold public hearings and meetings to carry out the purposes of this chapter;

(8) Conduct research and analysis in furtherance of the state's economic and community development efforts including maintenance of current information on market, demographic, and economic trends as they affect different industrial sectors, geographic regions, and communities with special economic and social problems in the state; ((~~and~~))

(9) Develop a schedule of fees for services where appropriate; and

(10) Be a model itself within state government of a high-performance work organization.

Sec. 5. RCW 43.330.060 and 1993 c 280 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department shall assist in expanding the state's role as an international center of trade, culture, and finance. The department shall promote and market the state's products and services internationally in close cooperation with other private and public international trade efforts and act as a centralized location for the assimilation and distribution of trade information.

(2) The department shall identify and work with Washington businesses that can use local, state, and federal assistance to increase domestic and foreign exports of goods and services.

(3) The department shall work generally with small businesses and other employers to facilitate resolution of siting, regulatory, expansion, and retention problems. This assistance shall include but not be limited to assisting in work force training and infrastructure needs, identifying and locating suitable business sites, and resolving problems with government licensing and regulatory requirements. The department shall identify gaps in needed services and develop steps to address them including private sector support and purchase of these services.

(4) The department shall work to increase the availability of capital to small businesses by developing new and flexible investment tools and by assisting in targeting and improving the efficiency of existing investment mechanisms.

(5) The department shall assist women and minority-owned businesses in overcoming barriers to increased investment and employment and becoming full participants in Washington's traded sector economy.

(6) The department shall promote and assist firms in implementing high-performance practices that produce higher value goods and services and employ a high-skill work force.

Sec. 6. RCW 43.330.080 and 1993 c 280 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department may contract with associate development organizations or other local organizations to increase the support for and coordination of community and economic development services in communities or regional areas. The organizations contracted with in each community or regional area shall be broadly representative of community and economic interests. The organization shall be capable of identifying key economic and community development problems, developing appropriate solutions, and mobilizing broad support for recommended initiatives. The contracting organization shall work with and include local governments, local chambers of commerce, private industry councils, port districts, labor groups, institutions of higher education, community action programs, and other appropriate private, public, or nonprofit community and economic development groups. The department shall be responsible for determining the scope of services delivered under these contracts.

(2) Associate development organizations or other local development organizations contracted with shall promote and coordinate, through local service agreements with local governments, small business development centers, port districts, community and technical colleges, private industry councils, and other development organizations, for the efficient delivery of community and economic development services in their areas.

(3) The department shall consult with associate development organizations, port districts, local governments, and other local development organizations in the establishment of service delivery regions throughout the state. The legislature encourages local associate development organizations to form partnerships with other associate development organizations in their region to combine resources for better access to available services, to encourage regional delivery of state services, and to build the local capacity of communities in the region more effectively.

(4) The department shall contract on a regional basis for surveys of key sectors of the regional economy and the coordination of technical assistance to businesses and employees within the key sectors. The department's selection of contracting organizations or consortiums shall be based on the sufficiency of the organization's or consortium's proposal to examine key sectors of the local economy within its region adequately and its ability to coordinate the delivery of services required by businesses within the targeted sectors. Organizations contracting with the department shall work closely with the department to examine the local economy and to develop strategies to focus on developing key sectors that show potential for long-term sustainable growth. The contracting organization shall survey businesses and employees in targeted sectors on a periodic basis to gather information on the sector's business needs, expansion plans, relocation decisions, training needs, potential layoffs, financing needs, availability of financing, the degree to which firms within the sector have adopted high-performance practices, and other appropriate information about economic trends and specific employer and employee needs in the region.

(5) The contracting organization shall participate with the work force training and education coordinating board as created in chapter 28C.18 RCW, and any regional entities designated by that board, in providing for the coordination of job skills training within its region.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. This act shall take effect July 1, 1994.