AN ACT Relating to the establishment of a business and job retention program; adding a new chapter to Title 43 RCW; and adding a new section to chapter 42.17 RCW.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. The legislature finds that the economic health of the state of Washington is a function of the capacity of the citizens of the state to continue to work at good jobs with good pay and good working conditions producing quality products. The legislature further finds that a large majority of the state's citizens will continue to be employed in the future at companies which are currently in operation. The state of Washington has permanently lost between forty-four thousand and fifty-five thousand jobs per year between 1979 and 1985 as a result of plant closures, business failures, and mass layoffs. These job losses resulted in tremendous suffering and dislocation affecting individuals, families, and communities and have also resulted in large-scale public costs. These include substantial increases in expenditures for unemployment compensation and public assistance, the loss of taxes paid by workers and businesses, as well as increases in social and health program costs due to rising social problems caused by high levels of unemployment.

The state has a long-term interest in assisting viable firms to remain in business, reducing business and job loss which can be avoided, and minimizing the social and financial costs resulting from those business and job losses which cannot be prevented. It is the purpose of this chapter to authorize and fund the creation of locally based business and job retention teams to assist businesses which are likely to close, fail, or experience a permanent mass layoff, and to assist individuals who are employed by such businesses and thereby are or may be affected by a closure, failure, or permanent mass layoff of these businesses. The state's primary objective is to provide continuing financial and technical assistance and training to the business and job retention teams to ensure their success.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. There is established within the department of trade and economic development the business and job retention program. An exempt position is hereby created at the division director level within the department of trade and economic development for the managing director of the business and job retention program. The managing director shall be appointed by the governor and shall serve under the direction of the director of trade and economic development at the governor's pleasure. In carrying out the purposes of this chapter, the managing director shall solicit volunteer assistance, work with the business assistance center, the small business development center, the department of community development's employee ownership program, local early warning programs, local reemployment centers, labor representatives, and other appropriate public and private agencies and organizations, and contract with private consultants, with the approval of the director of trade and economic development, for such services as the managing director deems advisable.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The managing director shall appoint an advisory committee having equal representation from local businesses, local government, and local labor organizations, and representatives of higher education, community colleges, vocational technical institutes, associate development organizations, community-based economic development organizations, private industry councils, local early warning programs, local reemployment centers, and other advocates for dislocated and unemployed workers. The managing director shall consult with the advisory committee in developing implementation plans for carrying out this chapter and shall monitor implementation and operations of the state and regional components of the program. Staff assistance shall be provided to the committee by the departments of trade and economic development, employment security, and community development. Members of the advisory committee shall receive no compensation but shall be reimbursed for travel expenses under RCW 43.03.050 and 43.03.060.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The managing director, after consultation with the advisory committee, shall:

(1) Designate service delivery regions in the state, each of which shall have no less than one county and no more than six counties.

(2) Establish business and job retention teams for each region. The managing director shall designate an associate development organization or other appropriate locally based organization as the team coordinator for each regional business and job retention team. Each team shall have equal representation from local businesses, local government, and local labor organizations. In addition, each team shall have representatives from local associate development organizations, local reemployment centers, local businesses, local labor organizations, local educational institutions, community-based organizations, advocates for the dislocated and unemployed workers, local private industry councils, and local governments. The team coordinator shall select appropriate marketing, management, training, and technical specialists to assist the team on any given project or group of projects. The department may subcontract with existing early warning or job retention programs to avoid duplication of effort in any region. The team coordinator shall be responsible for soliciting assistance from within the region from local chambers of commerce, private industry councils, colleges, universities, local early warning programs, local reemployment centers, and any other private, public, or nonprofit group with appropriate expertise.

(3) Develop a model local business survey and assist the regional business and job retention team in administering in each region surveys of businesses, utilities, labor unions, employees, financial institutions, and community organizations in cooperation with any existing business retention programs, reemployment centers, and associate development organizations. The surveys will gather information about business needs, expansion plans, relocation decisions, training needs, potential layoffs, financing needs, the availability of financing, and other appropriate information.

(4) Designate criteria for receipt of services offered to businesses, labor unions, employee groups, community groups, local governments, and port districts. Such criteria shall include the number of employees affected, the type of business involved, reemployment potential of employees, severity of problems affecting the business or workforce, skill level of workforce, availability of financing, and the social and economic costs of layoffs or closure.

(5) Be responsible for the development and implementation of training programs for the regional business and job retention team coordinators and teams. The training programs shall be designed to assist the teams in developing and coordinating local resources, assessing the need for outside resources, and locating other public and private resources needed to assist firms.

(6) Provide or coordinate the delivery of technical and managerial assistance upon request from the local business and job retention team coordinator in the areas of financial management, marketing, product development, production process analysis, training, and other business services.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. The business and job retention teams shall provide marketing, technical, managerial, and training assistance appropriate to client businesses, unions, employee groups, and workforces. The teams shall initiate contact with those firms or employees indicating the potential for closure, mass layoff, or relocation. For firms or employees not indicating such potential, the provision of services from the teams will be in response to direct requests from firms, labor unions, employee groups, community groups, local governments, and port districts. The team coordinator shall be responsible for conducting an initial assessment of firms or work forces to determine viability, problems, and skill levels, in cooperation with any early warning programs, reemployment centers, and associate development organizations. The assessment shall include but not be limited to the public and private costs of any potential closure or layoff, the potential for preventing a closure, business failure, business relocation, or mass layoff, the potential for a change in ownership, including worker and community buy outs of the firm, and the costs of keeping the facility in operation. Where appropriate, team coordinators shall assist local governments or organizations in applying for local development matching funds from the department of community development.

After the initial assessment, the team coordinator shall coordinate the delivery of technical, managerial, financial training, and other assistance. The team coordinator shall work with the employment security department and local reemployment centers to assess the need for and to ensure the provision of training services to client businesses, prelayoff services, and the establishment of programs for dislocated workers such as job clubs, retraining counseling, and the referral and delivery of social services.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. In addition to the responsibilities set forth in sections 2 through 5 of this act, the department of trade and economic development shall draw upon its existing resources, employment and economic data from the employment security department, and data from the department of licensing and the department of revenue and other sources, to do nonduplicative analysis of trends in the state's industries and workforces. The department shall make such analyses available to relevant businesses, labor organizations or workforces, local governments, economic development organizations, early warning programs, and business and job retention teams, and shall work with them to develop long-term strategies for economic growth and revitalization.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. The employment security department shall:

(1) Monitor industries, occupations, and substate labor markets by employment levels, and hourly wage and annual wage rates.

(2) Track numbers of dislocated workers and part-time workers in the state.

(3) Assess the number and causes of permanent mass layoffs and closures using a modified permanent mass layoff and plant closure data base which is presently funded by the federal government.

(4) Supply the managing director with data under subsections (1) through (3) of this section which will allow the state and local components of the program to prioritize delivery of service to distressed, mature, and cyclical industries.

(5) Provide information and assistance to the program on training resources available through the department.

(6) Offer any businesses assisted by the program its first source hiring services.

(7) Work with the department of social and health services to track dislocated workers who exhaust their unemployment compensation benefits and begin collecting public assistance.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. The department of community development shall provide resources to the business and job retention teams through its various programs, such as the community development finance unit, the employee ownership program, the community revitalization team and the development loan fund. In addition, the department shall assist local governments and organizations with local economic development planning processes and the development of entrepreneurial training programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. The state board for vocational education shall assist the business and job retention program through the development of partnerships between educational institutions and businesses that can benefit from job skills programs.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The managing director shall publish an annual report which shall be made available to the senate and house of representatives ways and means committees, the senate economic development and labor committee, and the house of representatives committee on trade and economic development. The report shall include the following:

(1) The number of businesses, labor unions, employee groups, local governments, and port districts assisted under this chapter;

(2) The types of assistance provided; and

(3) The number of businesses and jobs retained through assistance rendered under this chapter.

These reporting requirements shall be disaggregated by county, standard industrial classification, and size of firm.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. A new section is added to chapter 42.17 RCW to read as follows:

Notwithstanding the provisions of RCW 42.17.260 through 42.17.340, no financial or proprietary information supplied by businesses to the department of trade and economic development may be made available to the public.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. Sections 1 through 10 of this act shall constitute a new chapter in Title 43 RCW.