Chapter 1.3 Workforce Development Area (WDA) Designations and Agreements

1.3.2 Initial WDA Designations

Effective date: July 1, 2020

WIOA required that within the first two years of enactment, DWD-DET, in consultation with the Governor's Council on Workforce Investment (CWI), chief elected officials (CEOs), and local WDBs, and after a public comment period, establish local workforce development areas (WDAs) within the state.¹

In the state of Wisconsin, all local WDAs previously established under the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 were re-designated under WIOA on May 16, 2016 per the process outlined in Administrator's Memo 15-04.²

Initial Designation Timeline

Wisconsin's Local Workforce Development Areas

Wisconsin has identified eleven (11) local WDAs encompassing its 72 counties:

• WDA 1 – Southeastern Wisconsin: Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth counties
• WDA 2 – Milwaukee: Milwaukee County
• WDA 3 – Waukesha-Ozaukee-Washington: Waukesha, Ozaukee, and Washington counties
• WDA 4 – Fox Valley: Calumet, Fond du Lac, Green Lake, Waupaca, Waushara,and Winnebago counties
• WDA 5 – Bay Area: Brown, Door, Florence, Kewaunee, Manitowoc, Marinette, Menominee, Oconto, Outagamie, Shawano, and Sheboygan counties
• WDA 6 – North Central: Adams, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, Portage, Wood, and Vilas counties
• WDA 7 – Northwest: Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Taylor, and Washburn counties
• WDA 8 – West Central: Barron, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Eau Claire, Pepin, Pierce, Polk, and St. Croix counties
• WDA 9 – Western: Buffalo, Crawford, Jackson, Juneau, La Crosse, Monroe, Trempealeau, and Vernon counties
• WDA 10 – South Central: Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Jefferson, Marquette, and Sauk counties
• WDA 11 – Southwest: Grant, Green, Iowa, Lafayette, Richland, and Rock counties

• ¹ WIOA Sec. 106(b)
• ² Allowed by WIOA Sec. 106(b)(2)

1.3.3 Subsequent Designations

Effective date: July 1, 2020

At any time, the CEO and local WDB from any unit of local government, including local government consortia, may request to be designated as a local WDA. Requests will be reviewed by the CWI, which will make recommendations to the Governor, who will approve or deny the request in accordance with established policy.¹

Designations of local WDAs will be ongoing² as long as those areas:

1. Perform successfully;³
2. Sustain fiscal integrity;
3. and
4. Meet the requirements of WIOA Section 106(c)(1) when involved in a planning region.

Local areas that are able to demonstrate successful performance and fiscal integrity must be permitted to continue to operate and may not be re-designated without the consent of the local WDB and CEO in the local area.⁴

Regular Review of Designations

The Governor may review a local area at any time to evaluate whether that area continues to meet the requirements for subsequent designation.⁵

The Governor must review local area designations at least once every four years, to coincide with the four-year state planning cycle.⁶

The local area and CEO must be considered to have requested continued designation unless the local area and CEO notify the Governor that they no longer seek designation.⁷

• ¹ TEGL 27-14, Change 1
• ² 20 CFR § 679.250(b)(1)-(3)
• ³ As defined in WIOA Sec. 106(e)(1), in order to have performed successfully, a local WDA must have met or exceeded the adjusted levels of performance for primary indicators of performance for each of the last two consecutive years for which data are available. See WIOA Policy Manual section 11.10 for more information.
• ⁴ 20 CFR 679.250(b)(1)-(3)
• ⁵ 20 CFR § 679.250(d)(1)
• ⁶ 20 CFR § 679.250(d)(2)
• ⁷ 20 CFR § 679.250(e)

1.3.4 Appeals Process for Non-Designation of Local Areas

Effective date: July 1, 2020

If a unit of local government, or a grant recipient, is denied a request to be designated as a local area they may appeal to the CWI using the appeals process outlined in Section VI.c of Wisconsin's Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Combined State Plan.

If the appeal is denied, the appellant may appeal to the United States Secretary of Labor. If the Secretary of Labor determines that the appeals process in the State Plan was not followed appropriately, or that the area in question meets the requirements in WIOA 106(b)(2 or 3), then he/she can require that the area be designated a local area.¹

• ¹ WIOA Sec. 106(b)(5)

1.3.5 Development of Regions¹

Effective date: July 1, 2020

WIOA requires that the state identify regions.² The purpose of identifying regions is to align workforce development activities and resources with larger regional economic development areas and available resources to provide coordinated and efficient services to both job seekers and employers.³

Wisconsin's Planning Regions

Wisconsin has identified two planning regions based on alignment with its economic development regions and local labor market information, including commuting patterns between counties, shared labor force, and various other economic factors. These regions are:

• Planning Region A: WDAs 1, 2, and 3
• Planning Region B: WDAs 4 and 5⁴

• ¹ WIOA Sec. 106(a)
• ² WIOA Sec. 106(a)(1)
• ³ 20 CFR § 679.200
• ⁴ Wisconsin PY20-23 WIOA Combined State Plan, p. 115

1.3.6 Governance Agreements

Effective date: July 1, 2020

Each local WDA must have the following governing agreements in place:

• CEO Consortium Agreement¹
• WDB By-Laws²
• WDB-CEO Agreement
• WDB-Fiscal Agent Agreement
• CEO-WDB-Service Provider Agreement, only in cases where the service provider is fulfilling multiple roles within the one-stop delivery system³

These agreements may be standalone documents or may be combined with each other or incorporated into other documents as deemed appropriate by the local area.

Agreements may be reviewed and modified anytime deemed appropriated by the CEO or local WDB and may be reviewed by DWD-DET annually consistent with Chapter 1.2 of this policy manual.

Each local WDA must also develop a WIOA Local Plan, and if part of a planning region, must collaborate on the development of a WIOA Regional Plan.

• ¹ 20 CFR § 683.710(b)(2)
• ² 20 CFR § 679.310(g); Must comply with requirements in the WIOA Policy Manual section 1.4.2.
• ³ 20 CFR § 683.710(b)(2)