The following is an excerpt from the Workforce3 One February 2010 Newsletter:

The U.S. Department of Labor is partnering with the Departments of Energy (DOE), Commerce, and Education; the Small Business Administration; and the National Science Foundation to launch a new initiative to support the growth of an Energy Regional Innovation Cluster (E-RIC). In launching this initiative, the federal partners seek to develop a replicable and sustainable model for coordinated federal and regional efforts that foster regional innovation clusters. Regional innovation clusters are geographic concentrations of firms and industries that do business with each other and have common needs for workers, technology, and infrastructure. Ultimately, regional clusters are an effective way to create jobs and grow the economy in different parts of the country. The Employment and Training Administration has issued Training and Employment Notice 29-09 which describes the new E-RIC and encourages the public workforce system to become partners in this multi-agency effort.