The workforce development board must carry out several workforce-planning duties, including implementing chapter 73, helping the governor designate local workforce areas, and creating and updating high-demand job lists.
In addition to the duties outlined in current federal workforce rules and regulations, the workforce development board shall do the following: 1. Implement the requirements of chapter 73. 2. Assist the governor in the designation of local workforce development areas or regions as outlined in current federal workforce rules and regulations. 3. Create, and update as necessary, a list of high-demand jobs statewide for purposes of the future ready Iowa registered apprenticeship programs created in chapter 84F, the summer youth intern pilot program established under section 84A.12, the Iowa employer innovation program established under section 84A.13, the future ready Iowa skilled workforce last-dollar scholarship program established under section 256.228, the future ready Iowa skilled workforce grant program established under section 256.229, and postsecondary summer classes for high school students as provided under section 261E.8, subsection 8. In addition to the list created by the workforce development board under this subsection, each community college, in consultation with regional career and technical education planning partnerships, and with the approval of the board of directors of the community college, may identify and maintain a list of not more than five regional high-demand jobs in the community college region, and shall share the lists with the workforce development board. The lists submitted by community colleges under the subsection may be used in that community college region for purposes of programs identified under this subsection. The workforce development board shall have full discretion to select and prioritize statewide high-demand jobs after consulting with business and education stakeholders, as appropriate, and seeking public comment. The workforce development board may add to the list of high-demand jobs as it deems necessary. For purposes of this subsection, “high-demand job” means a job in the state that the board, or a community college in accordance with this subsection, has identified in accordance with this subsection. In creating a list under this subsection, the following criteria, at a minimum, shall apply: a. An entry-level hourly wage of not less than fourteen dollars. b. Educational attainment of a qualifying credential up to a bachelor’s degree. c. One or both of the following criteria: (1) Projected annual job openings of at least two hundred fifty or more during the next five years. (2) Annual job growth of at least one percent. 4. Make recommendations to the general assembly and governor regarding workforce development services, programs, and activities, including but not limited to allocation of resources. 5. Create, in collaboration with the state board of regents, a list of high-wage and high-demand jobs and corresponding academic majors offered by institutions of higher education governed by the state board of regents for purposes of the Iowa workforce grant and incentive program established under section 256.230. The workforce development board, in collaboration with the state board of regents, shall update the list at least once every two years. In creating a list under this subsection, the following criteria, at a minimum, apply: a. An entry-level annual salary of not less than forty thousand dollars. b. Educational attainment of a qualifying credential of at least a bachelor’s degree, or attainment of an initial or intern Iowa teaching license issued under chapter 256 through a pathway to licensure offered by an institution of higher education under the control of the state board of regents or an accredited private institution as defined in section 256.183. c. At least one of any of the following: (1) Projected annual job openings of at least two hundred fifty during the next five years. (2) Projected annual growth in the number of job openings of at least one percent. 96 Acts, ch 1186, §10; 2001 Acts, ch 24, §22; 2016 Acts, ch 1118, §4 – 6, 21; 2017 Acts, ch 74, §3, 4, 6; 2018 Acts, ch 1067, §7, 15; 2018 Acts, ch 1143, §3, 9; 2019 Acts, ch 135, §12; 2020 Acts, ch 1063, §40; 2020 Acts, ch 1117, §4; 2023 Acts, ch 111, §12; 2025 Acts, ch 6, §5 – 7 Referred to in §84A.1, 84A.1C, 84A.13, 84F.1, 256.183, 256.228, 256.229, 256.230, 261E.8 Section amended and editorially internally renumbered