About NOVA

Who We Are

NOVA is a nonprofit, federally funded employment and training agency that provides customer-focused workforce development services. We work closely with local businesses, educators and job seekers to ensure that our programs provide opportunities that build the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary to address the workforce needs of Silicon Valley.

NOVA is directed by the NOVA Workforce Board which works on behalf of a seven-city consortium composed of Cupertino, Los Altos, Milpitas, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale. For NOVA's recent workforce report on these seven cities, click here.

NOVA services for job seekers, businesses, and youth include:

• One-Stop Resource Center for Job Seekers
• Job Search Workshops
• Pre-Layoff Assistance and Outplacement Services
• Labor Market Research
• Staffing and Recruitment
• Employee Training and Retention Services
• Professional Development Programs
• Programs for Job Seekers
• Youth@Work job listing website

Though the majority of job seekers served through NOVA are "dislocated" or laid off workers, affected by the downsizing or closure of their companies, NOVA also helps job seekers with special needs, e.g., veterans, disabled workers, low-income workers, and teen parents. NOVA partners with many organizations in order to provide these job seekers with customized employment and training solutions.

Vision Statement:

To be an effective partner in providing innovative, high quality, customer-focused workforce development services to build a better community

Mission Statement:

To be a leader in delivering employment and training services that:

• facilitate skill development and career mobility;
• align with and are of value to our business community; and
• enhance people’s ability to live and work in Silicon Valley

Where We Are

Click the respective link for:

• NOVA addresses
• An interactive map of the NOVA campus
• Directions for how to find us

NOVA Five-Year Strategic Local Plan

Workforce Investment Act (WIA) policies require that the local workforce investment board submit a five-year plan to the Governor for its WIA allocated funds.

The purpose of the plan is to describe the local area’s one-stop approach to workforce-development programs that respond to the employment needs of its many customers, including current workers, unemployed workers, dislocated workers, new entrants to the labor force, youth, veterans, and employers.

NOVA’s plan reflects an employment-and-training system based on informed customer choice and performance accountability. The plan was originally effective from July 2000 to June 2005 and has been modified annually for each year since the initial term.

Click this link to download NOVA’s strategic plan (PDF).

NOVA in the News

NOVA, its staff, and its board members are frequently mentioned in the press. Click this link for a list of articles in which NOVA staff or board members are quoted or NOVA or the CONNECT! one-stop system are referenced.

Funding Sources

NOVA is funded primarily by grants from the state and federal government, and by local industry. Multiple funding sources include the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), Defense Conversion Act, Employment Training Panel, Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act, Wagner-Peyser Act, and funds from private corporations. By far the largest percentage of NOVA's annual budget has come from competitive grant proposals funded through the U.S. Department of Labor and the State Employment Development Department.

Partnerships: CONNECT!

We're part of CONNECT!, a group of more than 30 agencies and educational institutions dedicated to workforce and business solutions for Silicon Valley. CONNECT! serves as the one-stop service center for northern Santa Clara County.

Several CONNECT! partners are clustered on the CONNECT! Business and Career Campus bounded by Pastoria and Mathilda Avenues in Sunnyvale (across from Sunnyvale City Hall). Click here for map and directions.

In addition to NOVA, CONNECT! partners located at (or have representatives stationed at) the Sunnyvale campus include: the Sunnyvale Library, the California Employment Development Department, the California Department of Rehabilitation, the National Council on Aging, Project Hired, San Jose Job Corps, ProMatch, and the Employment Connection.

NOVA’s History

NOVA (North Valley Job Training Consortium) was formed in 1983 by a joint powers agreement among the six northern Santa Clara County cities of Cupertino, Los Altos, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale in response to Federal legislation, specifically the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). Also, at that time, the NOVA Private Industry Council (PIC) was created to direct the consortium. The City of Sunnyvale agreed to administer NOVA (and still does to this day).

The NOVA PIC guided the agency in its mission to provide low cost and efficient job training and employment programs. The council was a private/public partnership involving local government, business and industry, labor, education and training systems, employment services, and community support organizations.

In 2000, the City of Milpitas joined the NOVA consortium. In July 2000 JTPA was replaced by the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). In accordance with the regulations of WIA the 20-member NOVA PIC was dissolved and a 40-member NOVA Workforce Board (NOVA WB) was created. The NOVA WB oversees NOVA and the local one-stop service center, CONNECT!

NOVA's continued growth is made possible by the organization's willingness and capacity to engage in multi-agency partnerships, adapt services and technologies to meet customer needs, and successfully link employers with the candidates they need.

Click here for a timeline of NOVA's history and a list of awards that the organization has received over the years.

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