General Information

Be part of Washington’s premier workforce development event at our brand-new Tacoma location. Connect with local leaders, industry experts, workforce professionals, economic developers, and elected officials—all coming together to shape the future of our workforce.

Innovate. Elevate. Accelerate. The Future of Workforce Development

Workforce challenges continue to dominate headlines across Washington. Solving them demands bold, local action. This year’s conference focuses on high-impact, solution-driven sessions designed to tackle today’s most pressing workforce issues. We’re streamlining the agenda—limiting breakout sessions to emphasize deeper, more collaborative discussions with real-world strategies you can apply immediately.

Why Attend?

This is your best opportunity to:

• Engage directly with workforce development leaders, innovators, and policy makers driving change across Washington.
• Explore actionable solutions to current workforce challenges
• Celebrate success stories and build partnerships that drive progress

Conference Themes

We're actively preparing to make our time together engaging and impactful. Our conference themse and sub-themes for this year are:

• Partnerships & System Integration
  • Economic development + workforce development
  • Higher education + workforce development
  • Employers/Labor + workforce development
  • Regional and local collaboration
  • State agency and local collaboration
• Strengthening Training Pathways
  • Designing employer-driven (pre) apprenticeship pathways
  • Labor-Business-Workforce partnerships for (pre) apprenticeships
  • Pathways to apprenticeship
  • Beyond the trades: Expanding apprenticeship into new industries
  • On-the-job training and other work-based learning
• Expanding Workforce Access
  • AI and technology integration for process and service improvements
  • Population-specific service delivery models
  • Best practices for engagement and co-design with community
  • Transportation, childcare, and housing: Tackling the real-world access issues
• Local Workforce Board Performance & OperationsFiscal operations
  • Strategic use of funding: Braiding, aligning, and optimizing workforce investments
  • Evaluation + monitoring
  • Utilizing and understanding local workforce performance measures
  • Data-informed decision-making: Leveraging LMI and workforce analytics tools
  • Data for decision-making: Building a performance-driven culture
• Sector Strategies and Engaging BusinessesInnovative business workforce practices
  • Deepening industry sector partnerships to meet critical talent needs
  • Investing in quality jobs: Strategies to improve job design and retention
  • Demand-driven investment strategies
  • Rapid Response 2.0: Coordinated business services and economic transitions
  • Business services alignment across partners
  • Speaking the language of business: What employers really want

Questions? Contact Event Producers at info@eventproducers.events.

Let’s build a stronger, smarter workforce—together.

We Look Forward To Seeing You In:

Countdown to WWA's Fall Conference

Equal Opportunity
Washington Workforce Association is an equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.
Washington Relay 711.

The Washington Workforce Association Fall Conference 2025 receives support and funding from U.S. Department of Labor Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Title I-B grants and other sources. Read more about USDOL grant funding at esd.wa.gov/USDOL funding.