Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity
DCEO is a government entity. Learn more at https://dceo.illinois.gov/
Introductory Conversations and Assessment
How organizations conduct initial needs assessment with employers, introduce workforce development in general as well as their own organization’s programs, and gauge whether an employer could benefit from workforce development programs.
Learning About Employers' Needs
- For rapid response services, DCEO is required by law to complete assessments with employers and impacted workers to identify needed outplacement services. Representatives conduct these assessments through virtual or on-site meetings.
- The initial meeting questions help representatives determine rapid response services and coordination. The questions are guided in the system based on the layoff circumstances and are unique to each employer. Here is a example of a form that is used to gather employer information.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Introducing Your Organization
- DCEO serves as a liaison between employers and service providers, facilitating initial conversations and connecting businesses to the most relevant resources and programs. The organization’s first step is always to listen. Instead of leading with a sales pitch about all available programs, the team works to understand an employer’s specific pain points and talent pipeline needs.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Evaluating Employer Suitability
- Rather than determining whether an employer meets certain suitability criteria, DCEO focuses on making workforce services accessible. DCEO understands that employers have different needs, and some services may align better than others. The goal is to identify which services are most appropriate for the employer, and to provide targeted support that helps them access those resources effectively.
- DCEO seeks to promote sustainable opportunities that offer living wages. To accomplish this, the team encourages employers to examine factors like wages and other benefits that can help them attract and retain top talent.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Establishing Employer Relationships
Ways that organizations follow up or otherwise build relationships with potential employer partners. How do organizations keep employers’ interest and stay top of mind, despite how busy they may be?
Following Up via Phone and/or Email
- For Rapid Response activities, DCEO contacts the employer within 48 hours of receiving notice of a mass layoff to begin coordinated support. Employers with 75 or more full-time workers are required to provide advanced notification of a plant closure or mass layoff. Following the initial call and on-site workshop, DCEO continues to partner closely with local workforce entities, who serve as the primary, ongoing providers of services to the employer and affected workers. Together, the state and local teams ensure a seamless, collaborative response throughout the transition.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Job Fairs and Hiring Events
- DCEO, alongside partners, offers customized services to employers, such as coordinating virtual job fairs at no cost or setting up a recruitment or hiring event with a workforce partner.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Metrics and Financial Factors
How organizations collect and share information about expected outcomes and potential financial rewards and incentives.
Sharing Metrics and Return on Investment with Employers
- DCEO utilizes a talent pipeline management platform accessible to all workforce grantees. The platform helps to both forecast talent needs and analyze labor market information. The labor market data is uploaded directly from the Illinois Department of Employment Security (IDES). The upload from IDES allows DCEO to run reports and share data with grantees, ensuring a data-driven approach to talent management.
- Information can be customized for employers to show information that is specific to their sector of the labor market.
- All information is publicly available.
- DCEO supports the centralized platform, Illinois WorkNet, where ROI information on statewide apprenticeship activities is available.
- Through Apprenticeship Illinois, Apprenticeship Specialists utilize the Return on Investment (ROI) — National Apprenticeship resource when engaging with employers.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Gathering Data to Track Employer Metrics
- DCEO uses the Illinois Employment Business System (IEBS) to manage and track data for all rapid response services. This restricted state system documents all WARN Act correspondence and rapid response activity, ensuring a coordinated effort among state and local partners. Although DCEO serves as the primary point of contact and facilitator for rapid response activities, all partners who provide services have access to EBS to ensure a coordinated effort. This allows the DCEO to act as a single point of contact for the employer, preventing them from having to manage separate conversations with multiple agencies.
- DCEO is working on updating EBS to include a business service tool that will provide grantees and business services providers with a centralized resource to track business engagement activities.
- The updated system will include a needs assessment form. The system updates are expected to help eliminate employer fatigue by providing a centralized view of all engagement with an employer across various workforce providers and entities. The system will be in place for DCEO grantees.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Organizational Level Considerations
How organizations are set up to build partnerships with employers, and how they leverage relationships with other organizations for better outcomes.
Organizational Structure, Resourcing, and Staffing
- As a state WIOA agency, DCEO supports employers by helping them understand available workforce services, coordinating talent solutions, and connecting them to resources that strengthen retention, upskilling, and reemployment efforts.
- DCEO directly engages with employers experiencing mass layoffs or facility closures, overseeing all Rapid Response activities designed to address events covered under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act.
- DCEO relies on staff within its close partner systems and grantees, particularly at American Job Centers, to engage with employers.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Collaborating with Other Organizations
- For Rapid Response services, all relevant government agencies and workforce providers collaborate on an initial employer call and an on-site workshop for workers. By bringing all parties together from the start, the organization ensures a streamlined process that is easy for the employer to navigate.
- The organization maintains a public dashboard that shows official reporting from these Rapid Response activities, providing transparency for all stakeholders. The dashboard is a key tool for talent transition and labor market research. For example, the team can use the dashboard to identify employers hiring in the same industry and geographic area. This data enables them to work with workforce providers to coordinate hiring events or facilitate direct transitions to new employment.
- The office collaborates with organizations across the state, providing services through a network of American Job Centers and workforce partners.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Challenges
Common challenges and how organizations typically respond to them.
Workforce Development Jargon
- DCEO prioritizes using plain, accessible language when communicating with employers. Instead of relying on workforce development terms, teams find opportunities to translate services and programs into terms that resonate directly with the business community. For example, a program name can be changed from an irrelevant name to one that aligns with an industry-specific need, making the program’s purpose more universally understood.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Ensuring Compliance with Progammatic and Funding Requirements
- DCEO maintains a system of record for all grants and funding programs to ensure compliance. A core part of the strategy is to manage administrative tasks on behalf of employers to relieve their burden.
- For programs like the Incumbent Worker Training, local workforce providers work directly with employers to handle the necessary paperwork and setup. At the state level, the organization provides direct oversight, reviewing and approving all programs to ensure deliverables are met, and expenditures are allowable.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
Handling Challenges
- One of the ongoing challenges in building strong employer relationships is keeping them active over time, even after the employer’s immediate needs are met. Changes in staff, whether within service provider teams or at the employer, can make this harder, as key contacts often shift. When people move into new roles or leave an organization, valuable connections and shared understanding can be disrupted.
- To address this, DCEO is developing a new section within the Illinois Employment Business System (EBS) to track employer relationships at a statewide level. The system will include a comprehensive business contact list that maintains a historical record of employer interactions. This reduces the administrative burden for grantees that don’t have complex systems to maintain employer records and helps prevent the loss of valuable relationships due to personnel changes.
This content is based on interviews or email correspondence with Kelly Lapetino in 2025. This content has NOT yet been signed off by the organization.
