Communities At Work has emerged as the fastest growing idea in the area of workforce impact. Conceived as a collaborative regional framework for coordinating the needs of the community and employers to enable the attainment of living wage careers, Communities At Work has the attention of some of the region’s most prominent employers, non-profit workforce development organizations, and philanthropic foundations. Keep reading to see how you can participate in bringing the Communities At Work vision to life. The Opportunity Overall, unemployment in the Richmond area is low, although unemployment remains high in selected geographic areas. We have an opportunity to enable thousands of Richmond-area residents with barriers to employment to move into one of the 43,000 job openings that lead to living wage careers. Our Solution Communities At Work is a framework that accelerates Impact Staffing of talent in the Richmond area into Living Wage Careers using a three-step formula that includes career pathway profiles for specific employers and industry sectors, Ready-Willing-Able candidate assessments, and coaching and integrated support services for employers and candidates. How The CAW Framework Works Traditional approaches to workforce development include candidate assessment, training, and placement. The CAW Framework adds employer engagement, sector readiness assessments, and candidate intake partner readiness assessments on the front end and an integrated approach to post-hire support to improve the efficiency of the community’s efforts and deliver a collective impact that was not possible prior to the development of the CAW Framework. Meeting Stakeholder Needs Whether you’re an employer or industry association competing for talent in the job market, a foundation or governmental organization looking to apply your community impact funds to their best use, a community-based organization trying to coordinate your efforts with others in the community, or a potential employee with specific barriers to employment, CAW helps you work together with others around a common vision for making a collective impact in the Richmond area.