State and Local Roles

The Governor’s Workforce Board serves as Rhode Island’s State Workforce Development Board under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).

WIOA is the primary federal law that provides resources to states to help jobseekers access employment, education, training, and support services, and to match employers with the skilled workforce they need. 

In addition to having a State Workforce Development Board, WIOA requires Rhode Island to have two (2) Local Workforce Development Boards.

One of Rhode Island’s Local Workforce Development Boards is the Providence/Cranston Workforce Development Board, and the other Local Workforce Development Board serves the Greater Rhode Island Area.

*Since 2019, the Governor’s Workforce Board has been fulfilling the functions of the Local Workforce Development Board for the Greater Rhode Island Area. The GWB has a Local Area Administrator and a Local Area Advisory Committee to help support this work.   

Aside from its WIOA responsibilities, the GWB directly administers workforce programming using state dollars and federal grants when available. Such programming includes Work Immersion, Incumbent Worker Training Grants, Real Jobs RI, and Real Skills for Youth.

The following document contains additional information on the GWB's management of the Greater Rhode Island Local Area.