Workforce Innovations: Business Resources

Business Resources

BioDevice Group
	In 2003, NOVA began mentoring a handful of professionals engaged in the medical device, pharmaceutical, and allied industries to assist them with networking in order to share job leads, expand their technical knowledge, and provide moral support through the job-search process. The effort was christened The BioDevice Group (BDG).

Two years later, the endeavor has proven to be a resounding success. Current membership within the BDG exceeds 300 biospace professionals and the group has become a key recruitment resource for employers. The BioDevice Group also provides a valuable and unique opportunity for those currently employed in the industry to remain connected to their biospace colleagues. All of these services–weekly meetings, job postings, and a resume database–are free to members.

Employers who seek to fill open positions with high-caliber professionals can utilize the BDG's easy-to-use resume database, regardless of job type–regular, consultant, or contractor. For access to the BDG job seeker database, select the Employers tab on the home page. By entering your company name and e-mail address, you can search the resume database by specific terms to get a list of members with brief summaries of their experience and skills. Hiring managers can contact the group moderator directly to obtain a corporate password for even greater database access.

Visit The BioDevice Group online at www.biodevicegroup.org for additional information and to determine how the BDG might help your business.

GAO Report: Employers and One-Stop Services

In February 2005, the U. S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) presented a report to Congress on employers' awareness and use of one-stop services. Among the findings: About half of all employers are aware of their local one-stops and 83 percent of employers that used one-stops would consider using them again. Awareness of one-stops increases with employer size. Employers of all sizes primarily use one-stop services to help fill job vacancies. To learn more, view the report at www.gao.gov/new.items/d05259.pdf.

NOVA's Workforce Review

The Workforce Review is a two-page fact sheet featuring data on labor force trends, including regional unemployment rate and change, specific labor force data for NOVA's consortium of cities, and workforce reductions in the NOVA area.