State Workforce Board approves midcycle modifications for regional and local plans across Tennessee

The Tennessee State Workforce Board on May 29 reviewed and approved midcycle modifications to regional and local workforce plans for all regions in the state, voting by roll call after staff recommendations for each plan.

Amy Mayberry, executive director of the state board, told members these are midcycle updates to the 2024–2027 plans under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and described the review process used to evaluate each submission. "After submission, each plan underwent an intense review period by a team of 29 cross‑departmental staff members," she said, explaining the staff score sheets and the board’s three voting options: approve, approve with conditions to be resolved by staff, or deny.

Board members then heard presentations from regional teams outlining labor‑market snapshots, priority sectors and measurable strategies. Presenters emphasized employer‑led sector partnerships, expansion of work‑based learning (including registered apprenticeship and OJT), the integration of short‑term credentials and improved access through mobile and virtual American Job Center services.

Several regions highlighted a planned or pilot rollout of a benefits‑cliff dashboard for case managers and participants; panelists said that tool is intended to help workers and caseworkers weigh how wages and benefits interact as earnings change.

Votes at a glance (staff recommendation → board decision):
- East Regional Plan — staff recommended approval; passed by roll call (28 in favor, 1 abstention, 4 absences). (presentation: East Regional Planning Council; mover: Linda Botch; second: Jackie Akbari).
- Southeast Local Plan (Southeast Tennessee) — staff recommended approval; passed by roll call (reported approvals; see official minutes). (presenter: Jennifer Thcker).
- Northeast Regional Plan — staff recommended approval; passed by roll call (30 approved, 1 abstention, 2 absences).
- East Local Plan — staff recommended approval; passed by roll call (30 approved, 3 absences).
- Middle Regional Plan — staff recommended approval; passed by roll call (majority approval recorded; see official minutes).
- Northern Middle, Upper Cumberland, Southern Middle — staff recommended approval for each local/regional update; all passed by roll call with substantial majorities reported in the minutes.
- West Regional, Greater Memphis, Northwest, Southwest plans — staff recommended approval for each; all passed in roll call votes following presenters’ remarks and staff follow‑up on previously identified insufficiencies.

Staff noted a number of insufficiencies in initial submissions across regions (programmatic clarifications, budget revisions and required policy updates). Presenters reported they had worked with department staff to resolve those items prior to the board votes. On Greater Memphis, Commissioner Denise Thomas and staff said earlier fiscal sanctions had been lifted after the local board addressed control and fiscal‑management issues; single audits for certain periods remain underway and the local area remains under a heightened monitoring designation.

What the board asked for next: staff and board chairs were asked to continue tracking implementation via regional plan trackers, provide written responses where presenters promised follow‑up data, and to bring an update on American Job Center redesign and the benefits‑cliff tool at the August meeting.

Sources and provenance: the board’s presentations and the staff recommendation sheets were read aloud during the meeting; each plan’s approval was recorded by roll call in the public meeting minutes.