Workforce Development Resources

The National Local Technical Assistance Program Association (NLTAPA) is a not-for-profit organization representing and serving the 58 LTAP and TTAP member-Centers in the United States and Puerto Rico. All staff of member-Centers are entitled to association services and are eligible to participate in programs and to serve as committee members and officers.

The association's main objectives are to build awareness about LTAP/TTAP in the transportation community, assist FHWA with developing strategies for the program, and build the capacity of each Center to best meet the needs of its customers.

"AZTESOL is AZ state affiliate of TESOL, the international professional organization for educators in the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages.
Mission: maintain forum for concerns affecting the ELL/ELT communitites and to create opportunities for professional development through advocacy, dissemination of information, and networking.
Four regions: Northern, Central, Southeast, and Southwest"

"TESOL is an international association of professionals advancing the quality of English language teaching through professional development, research, standards, and advocacy.
3-year Strategic Plan: http://www.tesol.org/about-tesol/association-governance/strategic-plan "

"CATESOL is the largest US affiliate of TESOL which has over 100 affiliates in US and abroad.
Members include classroom teachers at all levels, instructors in teacher-training programs, university students, aides, and administrators in CA and NV"

The Long Beach region, home to one of the busiest seaports in the nation, has a high demand for workers in the waterborne cargo-movement industry, known as logistics or supply chain management. There is a significant industry need for more trained entry-level and mid-level supply chain management workers.

One of our responsibilities at the university is to make sure that our students succeed in the classroom while preparing them for the realities of the “real world.” That’s why any opportunity we have to get leading experts in front of them matters. As part of an Industry Outlook series sponsored by the METRANS Transportation Center, which is a partnership of CSULB and USC, students from both campuses recently heard from such an expert, this time in the field of e-commerce. This is a topic of tremendous importance to not only students of supply chains but to all of us who are consumers of goods.

Among the more interesting news items from the past few weeks was a report that a graffiti artist named Katsu defaced a six-story billboard in Manhattan. The billboard was a Calvin Klein ad featuring Kendall Jenner. That wasn’t the interesting part. The interesting part was how he did it. He used a drone.

More than 13,000 leaders in transportation from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C. earlier this month for the Transportation Research Board’s (TRB) 94th annual meeting. Described by one Politico.com writer as the “Superbowl of the transportation world,” the event gives leaders from industry, government, and academia access to innovative research and best practices in all modes of transportation.

A July 13 article in the New York Times showcased an apprenticeship program at a Virginia naval shipyard. Around the same time, Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton proposed a tax credit for companies that take on apprentices. It’s a call that has been taken up by others, including some on the Republican side as well.

​It’s not uncommon for trade-related professionals, who may disagree on any number of issues, to find common ground on one key thing: the U.S. suffers by not having a national freight strategy. Truckers, rail companies, port labor – that is to say anyone working along the supply chain – recognizes that the ability to compete as a leading trade nation depends upon consistent policies, the development of clearly defined priorities, and constant attention to the state of the infrastructure on which the goods move. The latter also depends upon a regular funding stream.

"While most firms have given a great deal of thought to logistical design and management, very few focus their attention on market distribution. In fact, there is considerable evidence that this critical arena of business strategy is simply treated as a given in most firms and not subject to the same rigorous analysis as other aspects of strategy. Firms have even changed, added, or modified market distribution structures with little consideration of the impact on overall business performance and the logistical consequences of such changes. Distribution Fulfillment covers the critical topics to help you learn how to develop, implement and manage a market distribution strategy for your logistical operations." View the website for more details.