About Arkansas Workforce Connections
Arkansas Workforce Connections sits at the center of the state’s workforce development efforts. The agency’s mission is to provide support and guidance to help individuals succeed in their careers while offering companies incentives to maintain a skilled and technically trained workforce, meeting industry demands now and in the future. Arkansas Workforce Connections is a division of the Arkansas Department of Commerce.
Offices
Arkansas Workforce Connections consists of five major offices. Each office administers multiple state and federal grants, oversees programs, and provides employment-related services to Arkansas employers and job seekers.
Reemployment
While Workforce Connections focuses primarily on employment and training programs, Reemployment administers the unemployment insurance program in Arkansas and oversees the labor market information section. Although Reemployment is now its own division, we will continue to house its information on this website for the time being to ensure claimants have continued access to unemployment insurance resources, forms, and links.
The labor market information section includes the Bureau of Labor Statistics programs and publishes data to Discover Arkansas (www.discover.arkansas.gov).
Labor Force Data: https://dws.arkansas.gov/workforce-services/news-info/labor-force-data/
Local Connections
The major agency sections have staff in local offices across the state, often within the Arkansas Workforce Centers. To view locations, click on one of the links below.
Click here to find an Arkansas Workforce Center
Click here to find an Adult Education Center
Administration
Cody Waits, Executive Director, Arkansas Workforce Connections
501-682-3125 | [email protected]
Eddie L. Thomas, MPA, MAT, Deputy Director, Office of Employment & Training
501-371-1028 | [email protected]
Trenia Miles, Ed.D., Director, Office of Adult Education
501-683-7334 | [email protected]
Joseph Baxter, Commissioner, Office of Rehabilitation Services
501-296-1614 | [email protected]
Nathan Winter, Interim Director, Division of Services for the Blind
501-683-6052 | [email protected]
Kristen Rhodes-Berry, Director, Reemployment
501-683-5366 | [email protected]
Vision & Mission
Vision: To accelerate economic growth and individual prosperity in the state of Arkansas.
Mission: To support and secure Arkansas’ economic vitality through a highly skilled workforce by administering programs and providing efficient services that empower employers and job seekers.
About the Arkansas Department of Commerce
The Arkansas Department of Commerce is the umbrella department for workforce and economic development drivers. Its divisions and regulatory boards include the Division of Aeronautics, Waterways Commission, Workforce Connections, Reemployment, Workforce Policy and Innovation, Office of Skills Development, State Bank Department, Insurance Department, Securities Department, Economic Development Commission, and Development Finance Authority. Read more.
