The U. S. Department of Labor established the National Workforce Assistance Collaborative (NWAC) in 1993 through a cooperative agreement with the National Alliance of Business (NAB) and its partners. NWAC's mission is to help small and mid-sized businesses adopt high performance work practices, become more competitive, and ultimately, to create and retain high-skill, high-wage jobs for American workers. In addition, NWAC was set up to strengthen service and information providers so they can better meet the needs of these businesses in four key areas: workplace literacy, employee training, work restructuring, and labor-management relations.