It is an exciting time for ERNs®! Over the past year, several Employer Resource Networks® have grown, adding new employers and/or expanding to adjacent counties. We have seen an increase in communication beyond Peer Learning Calls with members hosting calls with each other. You've been patient through a year-long database upgrade, attending trainings and adapting to regular revisions of monthly dashboards. You've attended Peer Learning Calls and incorporated a new employer engagement process proven to better retain employers and gain utilization. We've created. a web of best practice sharing that is taking hold.

Over the last year, ERN USA has accomplished:

• ERN® DataSolutions upgrade: enhanced functionality and reporting capabilities.
• Outreach package/Success Coach Connections Newsletter: new design/platform
• ERN USA and state ERN websites: new hosting, conversion, and updating
• NEO (Northeast Ohio ERN) launch: Towards Employment (August 2023)
• Union Delaware County (UDC) ERN launch: Marion Goodwill (April 2024)
• North Central ERN launch: Marion Area ERN conversion with expansion to additional counties (April 2024)

Later this year we will launch:

• Indiana ERN (statewide): Indiana Association for Home & Hospice Care (IAHHC)
• Tompkins County ERN (New York): Tompkins County Chamber of Commerce
• Solano County ERN (California): Solano County Workforce Board

Exploratory Stage: California, Hawaii, Nashville, and South Carolina

Recent inquiries: Massachusetts and Texas

As you receive interest, please pass them along for tracking within the database which also give us the ability to respond and support from the national level. Thank you all for your mutual support of our community, our shared passion for lives we hope to impact, and, where needed, your willingness to team up with us on ERN and fund development. With increasing economic challenges for working families and their employers, it’s essential for us to band together, sharing and learning best practices for the sustainability and expansion of Employer Resource Networks®. 

James Vander Hulst, President & CDO, ERN USA

Recently, two Ohio ERNs applied for funding separately through the Department of Developmental Disabilities. Ohio ERN partnered with ERN USA on the grant to enhance Ohio's workforce ecosystem by developing ERN infrastructure. Members touched based and shared grant text. One of the ERNs received $35,000 for two companies toward membership costs, while the other ERN and Ohio ERN/ERN USA proposals were not funded.

“Despite our efforts, the request was unsuccessful due to funds running out quickly, but the lesson learned was clear,” said Stephen MacDonald, Manager at Lucas County Family and Children First Council and Co-Lead for Ohio ERN. He advises, "Keep an out for collaborative opportunities for ERNs where you can also include ERN USA to further bolster the national network; organize and submit early.” He adds, “Also, it’s a great proposal; we’re going to submit it again!” 

James Vander Hulst and other state leads are available to join in partnership discussions:

• Starting one ERN
• State-wide partnerships w/multiple
• Adding new location/ERN for a current company member within a new community
• Scaling programs from one ERN to another
• Industry-specific multi-company interest

After becoming a member of ERN USA in 2022 and serving as a success coach for Firelands Forward ERN in Ohio, he now joins ERN USA at the national level, providing communications support for success coaches and administrators. “If you’ve met Luis, you know he is a tremendous asset to the ERN USA Network” said Angela Vander Hulst. “Along with the progress we have made on a solid foundation for network communications and analytics, this new position will have a powerful impact on the Network’s capacity to communicate, collaborate, and market ERNs together,” said Angela Vander Hulst, Operations Director, ERN USA.