Surging demand for workers, growing income inequality, and passage of welfare reforms have made work force development one of the United States' key national concerns. Public/Private Ventures has been working with various states to design work force development strategies that seek to address the concerns of many work force development specialists who believe that, on its own, the "work first" approach to work force development is unlikely to further reduce individuals' reliance on public assistance and to solve businesses' problem of finding enough qualified workers. The strategies, which have been deemed the State Workforce Policy Initiative, focus on the following key program elements: enabling workers to gain the skills needed to support themselves and their families; engaging employers in designing and implementing programs; and developing effective ways to provide employment retention assistance to workers as they move from welfare into the labor force. (Approximately two-thirds of this document is devoted to profiles of efforts to implement the initiative in Colorado, Florida, Oklahoma, Oregon, and Washington. Each profile contains the following components: an overview of the state's economic and labor market context; a description of efforts to implement the initiative; and implications of the state's efforts.) (MN)