Prairie State 2000 began as an Illinois initiative to guarantee dislocated workers access to training funds from a pool of employer and employee contributions. Although its rationale was sound and the need was great, it was beset with a number of difficulties: there was no real market for the training, its grants and loans were not worth the cost of the paperwork involved, and companies and workers were seeking short-term relief instead of the long-term investment training represents. The lessons of Illinois' experience for other states include the following: (1) worker training cannot revitalize the economy without business modernization; (2) firms that are unwilling to upgrade production technologies and management methods are not ready to train; and (3) training policies that work well in one state rarely meet other states' needs. The following actions are suggested for policymakers: stimulate training demand by facilitating transition to new business strategies; offer companies information, expertise, and cost-sharing plans; broker the supply of educational services by matching firms and workers with local educational providers; and promote cooperative problem solving rather than relying on traditional coercive political strategies. (YLB)