Northwest Wisconsin Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (CEP Inc.), a federally designated 501(C)(3) private non-profit corporation, has administered federal, state, and private foundation funded workforce development programs for more than 40 years with a history of excellence, innovation, and accountability. CEP was developed out of the 1960s "Great Society" legislation called the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). In 1982, experience with CETA led to the enactment of the federal Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA), which replaced CETA. In 1998, JTPA was replaced by the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) which CEP currently maintains in our region. There are only three CEPs remaining in the nation. Although there have been many changes in federal workforce legislation, the primary focus of CEP has remained to provide employment and training services to unemployed and underemployed adults and youth.
CEP serves an area with a population of 185,000 individuals in Ashland, Bayfield, Burnett, Douglas, Iron, Price, Rusk, Sawyer, Taylor and Washburn counties of Northwest Wisconsin, encompassing a 10,000 square mile area. CEP has built positive partner relationships in northern Wisconsin through services provided at eight separate Job Center locations.
The CEP Board of Directors is comprised of the Local Elected Officials (LEO) and other interest groups from the ten counties in which CEP has operations. Therefore, the Board of Directors is actively involved in insuring the mission and goals of CEP are achieved to the benefit of the citizens of northern Wisconsin.
CEP is well versed in formula-funded and competitive grant programs with a background of excellence in administering multiple programs. It has received numerous program-related awards from the Department of Labor and has enjoyed 13 consecutive years of perfect audits without findings from the prestigious accounting firm of WIPFLI of Madison, WI.
CEP field staff consists of highly trained, dedicated, competent individuals with 100s of years of combined experience with CEP. For the most part, the executive staff has been employed with CEP on average for more than 10 years each.
Along with providing employment and training activities to citizens in our region, CEP also works with other programs such as Vocational Rehabilitation, Pathways to Independence, and the Health Resources and Services Administration.
Using a client-based case management system, CEP staff track worker training, expenses and outcomes, providing real time evaluation data useful to all programs. The agency's partners include service providers for people with disabilities, veterans, at risk youth, students, older workers, and the general public. This strategic placement provides a significant advantage in connecting potential users of workforce development services and other work related services in the region of Northwest Wisconsin.
