Certification Visits Strengthen Quality
August 2026 – Every three years, state and federal policy require local workforce boards to certify their One Stop Centers to verify that partners are coordinating, customers are being served, and the system is functioning as designed. This August, certification teams visited WorkSource Okanogan, WorkSource Central Basin, and the WorkSource Wenatchee Affiliate, spending time at each site to understand how One Stop Center partners are connecting and collaborating to meet the needs of our communities.
SkillSource CEO, Lisa Romine, laid the groundwork at each visit on what a One Stop Center is and how the review process works. She reminded everyone that WorkSource is not a single employer. It’s a partnership where multiple agencies and programs operate out of a shared building as part of the national American Job Center Network. It’s in this context that partners are better able to serve customers and provide effective connections – ensuring that individuals aren’t just directed elsewhere for the services they need or to address barriers, but that they are directly connected to the right partner. Local One Stop teams had already completed a detailed self-assessment covering service delivery, accessibility, equal opportunity, outreach, customer satisfaction, employer engagement, and staff training. The certification teams then toured, observed, and asked questions.
The certification team at WorkSource Okanogan learned how they are actively expanding their reach beyond the center’s walls. Partner staff now hold regular outreach hours in Brewster for south county communities, with a north county location in the works. The Business Services team is adapting their partner van tours to visit employers directly, rather than waiting for them to walk through the door. As the local team took people on a tour through the front part of the center, they stopped to hear from the Center’s AARP representative, Margie Bass. Margie had come into the center as a customer when she was new to the area. She holds a college degree, but her field in forensics didn’t have a career opportunity for her in Okanogan. WorkSource partners in the Okanogan One Stop Center guided her on a training path that resulted in a successful career placement that is now actively meeting the needs of the local community.
One Stop Centers are hubs of activity where our local workforce takes shape. One strong example from the Central Basin One Stop in Moses Lake was an Employer of the Day event that was taking place while the team toured the site. International Paper Co. was there to meet directly with prospective job candidates, and by the time the certification visit wrapped up, nine of the 30 job seekers who engaged that day had been hired on the spot! SkillSource board member Maritza Enriquez of Joyson Safety Systems noted that local businesses – specifically HR managers – could benefit from the same kind of exposure with One Stop tours to understand the resources available to their own employees. “I get a lot of questions about paid family and medical leave, for example, and this is a great resource to assist our employees with that.”
The WorkSource Wenatchee Affiliate recently relocated to the SkillSource buildings, putting Employment Security and SkillSource under the same roof. SkillSource Managing Director Susan Adams described the immediate difference, “It used to be a warm handoff – now it’s a hot handoff!” Board members Nate Mack and Randy Curry both keenly recognized the value in these connected services for their respective labor organizations, each receiving a high amount of career seeker interest in their fields, but whose applicants often need other services first. “The need for a C average in Algebra is a common barrier,” commented Randy Curry. The SkillSource Learning Center is in the same building, and in partnership with Wenatchee School District, Wenatchee Valley College, and the Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, together sent 45 students across the graduation stage this past spring.
All three centers — WorkSource Okanogan, WorkSource Central Basin, and the WorkSource Wenatchee Affiliate — will be recommended for certification through June 30, 2029 at the Board’s September meeting. Continued certification means more meeting the community where it is today, more hired-on-the-spot moments, and people like Margie finding their next best step to land a skilled, meaningful career.
