Pillars of Success

A Guide to Implementing Place-based Retail Initiatives

A Guide to Implementing Place-Based Retail Initiatives As the retail industry undergoes rapid change, communities across the country are working to develop placed-based coalitions of employers, education/training institutions, and workforce systems to ensure that retail workers have access to quality opportunities for career advancement. With support from Walmart Giving, CAEL developed this implementation guide to describe the six different “place-based pillars” that should be considered when planning a retail career opportunity initiative. It also provides examples from two recent retail initiatives funded by Walmart Giving, describes unique considerations when engaging the retail industry, and provides suggestions on how to communicate with retailers about the public workforce system.