| Southwest region introduces new Virtual Job Search 101 |
 The Southwest Wisconsin Workforce Development Board (SWWDB) has partnered with the Hedberg Public Library to extend job center services to the community using the web-based virtual job center.
Jean Yeomans, Adult Services Coordinator for the Hedberg Library conceived the idea after seeing the SWWDB virtual job center website - www.jobcenter.org. She applied for a state library system grant to implement "Virtual Job Search 101" a 90 minute class teaching adults how to navigate and use the website. "The mission of the Hedberg Library is to provide information useful to local residents," Yeomans said. "I believe that the SWWDB website is an excellent source of job and training information that our patrons find helpful."
The grant provided funding to develop course curriculum and handout materials as well as provide training for library staff to learn the features of the website. "The website is easy to navigate and our staff, very quickly, became comfortable using the system," Yeomans said.
The classes, which have been running for almost six months, have been very well attended. They are very popular with our patrons," commented Yeomans. The feedback from class participants has been very positive and useful in keeping the content pertient.
"We are very pleased that the Hedberg Library wants to use our website as a key program in the adult services program," said Shannon Moe, Rock County Job Center Manager. "We have used the feedback received from the class to update and improve the website content. Our goal is for the information to be relevant and feedback from the Hedberg class helps us do that." |
| Bay Area Workforce Development Board Welcomes New Business Members! |
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Private Sector
MIKE DAMA, Owner
Dama Plumbing and Heating, Crivitz
MARK HARRIS, Manager of Organizational Development
Enzymatic Therapy, Green Bay
GREG JESSEN, Vice President and Marketing Manager
Cumulus Broadcasting, Green Bay
PRESTON RADANDT, Human Resource for Operations Support
The Kohler Company, Kohler
MIKE RUMINSKI, Director of Driver Recruiting
Schneider National, Green Bay
RITA SCHUSTER, Director of Human Resources
American Foods Group, Green Bay
MIKE SKAHAN, Director of Human Resources
Tower Tech, Manitowoc
Education
DANIEL DeMARTE, Vice President for Learning (pending)
Northeast Wisconsin Technical College
SCOTT HILDEBRAND, Senior Executive Assistant to the Chancellor
University of Wisconsin-Green Bay |
| Fox Valley Workforce Development Board Does More With Less |
Originally established in October 1998, the Oshkosh Job Center is one open to anyone who needs assistance finding a job, said the CEO of Fox Valley Workforce Development Board Inc., Cheryl Welch.
Along with the opening of the new center was a need to offer more assistance to workers and businesses. The center now offers programs like a lean manufacturing overview for business owners and other customized training programs, job training and assistance programs that respond to local industries' work force needs and general assistance with skill assessments, resumes and career counseling. "We have tried to take the one-stop shop away from a welfare program and toward a center open to anyone," Welch said. "We need a workforce/business access center for all people to utilize," Welch said. "The more we can do that, the better we can be."
The board plans to continue its efforts to maintain a center anyone in the area can utilize, but with the decline in government assistance, Welch would like to work with local chambers of commerce, community foundations and local business to develop additional sources of revenue to keep operations at a level needed in the area. Already Welch has had to seek out other sources of funds to staff and operate the centers in her area. The first phase of the effort to seek more funding resulted in more than $40,000 in financial support from the four counties the Fox Valley Workforce Development Board serves.
adapted from an article by Jeff Bollier of the Oshkosh Northwestern . September 14, 2008 |
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