|
October 2009 |
Vol 1, Issue 2 |
|
|
|
Greetings! |
September was a busy month for the Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board. First, we celebrated the successful completion of the five summer youth work readiness programs funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (see below for more details). I want to extend my congratulations to the five providers who worked tirelessly to put on outstanding programs that will have a lasting impact on the youth who participated.
We also entered into a new two-year Memo of Understanding with our one-stop partners. Their participation in and commitment to the SuperJobs Center is one of the reasons Area 13 continues to perform well compared to other workforce regions in Ohio, and I am grateful for that commitment. (See story to the side for a full acknowledgement of our partners.) Finally, we are in the midst of transition at both the SWORWIB and at the SuperJobs Center. I hope to name an Emerging Workforce Development Coordinator this month, and with that we expect to reignite the EWD Council. We have just begun a two-year cycle for five new year-round youth providers, with a greater emphasis on out-of-school youth, so it is important that we get this person in place. We are also looking for a new director for the SuperJobs Center.
Sincerely,
Sherry Kelley Marshall/President/CEO |
SUMMER YOUTH PROGRAMS END ON HIGH NOTE
|

Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper meets graduates of the Career Works summer program Sept. 4 at Cincinnati State.
The demands were tough, the time frame compressed and the expectations high, but by the end of the summer, the payoff was apparent: Almost 660 youths completed summer work readiness training and were better prepared to focus on future careers and the education necessary to get them there. Our five summer providers -- Arbor E&T's Career Works, Easter Seals Work Resource Center, Great Oaks, Jobs for Cincinnati Graduates, and the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati -- targeted disadvantaged youths, eligible through the requirements of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The vast majority of youths in the programs were from low-income families, and included former offenders, those in foster care, or persons with disabilities.
The participants came from a wide swath of Hamilton County neighborhoods that spanned 21 ZIP codes, with 16 percent coming from the Madisonville ZIP code. Substantially more females (69 percent) than males (31 percent) were represented.
"The $2 million funding from ARRA allowed us to offer an opportunity to over 650 youths who otherwise might have been unemployed and disengaged in productive activities this summer," said Sherry Kelley Marshall, President/CEO of the SWORWIB. "The five programs developed work readiness skills that will pay off for these youths, and society, down the road."
Added Hamilton County Commissioner David Pepper: "We now have hundreds of young people who are much more ready to go to work to do the jobs this community needs done now and in the future."
For a complete wrap-up on the summer programs, click here. For a look at Great Oaks Freshman Challenge, click here: Youth from Career Works clean up Mt. Airy Forest, click here. |
YOUTH IN URBAN LEAGUE PROGRAM FIND JOBS
|
Youth coordinator Pamela King, right, hugs graduate at Sept. 4 celebration.
As a result of the Urban League of Greater Cincinnati's (GCUL) summer youth employment training in customer call center skills, 15 young adults have been hired by several regional employers.
The summer youth employment program was funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The Urban League was one of five providers selected by the Southwest Ohio Region Workforce Investment Board to offer work readiness training for eligible youths. The Urban League was funded $205,006 and enrolled 81 youths, ages 18-24, in its program.
"We are thrilled that these young people found a job as a result of the training they received here," said Donna Jones Baker, President/CEO of the GCUL. "Our summer youth program prepared them for a real-world work environment, and employers recognized this."
Customer service industry employers included T.J.Maxx, Convergys Corp., the Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport, Vianda LLC and U.S. Bank.
|
SWORWIB BOARD MEMBER WINS NATIONAL AWARD |
Congratulations to SWORWIB Board Member Crystal L. Kendrick, whose marketing and consulting firm The Voice of Your Customer was named a 2009 Regional Minority Supplier of the Year winner. Her firm was one of 16 selected from more than 80 nominees across the country. The Voice of Your Customer was named a winner in the category for annual sales under $1 million. The awards were given by The National Minority Supplier Development Council.
The State of Ohio, Health Alliance and the City of Cincinnati are among Voice of Your Customer's major clients.
The Voice of Your Customer has received numerous honors, including the Cincinnati Public Schools Reach and Teach Award and the Martin Luther King Award for creating economic opportunities. The firm was also named an SBA Minority Small Business Champion.
| |
 |
 |
PARTNERS SIGN MOU |
The SWORWIB and its partners at the SuperJobs Center entered into a new Memo of Understanding, in effect from Oct. 1, 2009-June 30, 2011, that outlined the roles, responsibilities and goals of each in administering workforce investment in Cincinnati and Hamilton County. The signatories include: Mayor Mark Mallory; Walter McLarty, Chairman of the SWORWIB Board; Sherry Kelley Marshall, CEO/President of the SWORWIB; Al Thompson, Director, SuperJobs Center; Moira Weir, Director, Hamilton County Jobs and Family Services; Dr. John Henderson, President, Cincinnati State Technical and Community College; Dr. Roberta White, President, Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development.
Also: Mark Fay; Area Manager, Ohio Rehabilitation Services Commission; Douglas Lumpkin, Director, Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services; Gwen Robinson, President/CEO, Cincinnati-Hamilton County Community Action Agency; Paul Magnus, Vice President, Workforce Development, Mature Services; Richard Rust, Executive Director, Cincinnati Metropolitan Housing Authority; Carl Hilliard, Director, Cincinnati Job Corps; Antonio Caffey, Field Supervisor, DEL-JEN Inc.; Thomas Rothwell, Assistant Superintendent, Cincinnati Public Schools; Charles Blythe, Grants Director, Ohio Valley/Northern Kentucky Goodwill Industries. |
MARK YOUR CALENDARS
|
SWORWIB
Nov. 12: Quarterly board meeting, 8-10 a.m., SuperJobs Center, 1916 Central Parkway
Partner Events
Nov. 12: Required Partners Leadership Council, 10 a.m.-noon, SuperJobs Center
SUPERJOBS WORKSHOPS
Held at these branches of the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County: Oct. 22: Pleasant Ridge branch, Thursday, 4-5 p.m., interviewing skills Oct. 26: Forest Park branch, 3-4 p.m., job search techniques Oct. 29: Anderson branch, 4-5 p.m., resume writing Nov. 5: Reading branch, 1-2pm, job search techniques Nov. 12: Loveland branch, 6-7 p.m., interviewing skills
MISC:
Job Corps orientation, 4:30 p.m. every other Wednesday, SuperJobs Center |
SWORWIB'S MISSION |
We will create and develop a comprehensive workforce development system that engages the entire community towards ever-increasing levels of self-sufficiency.
The SWORWIB drives policy, direction and funding oversight for the public workforce investment system in the system in the City of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.
The SWORWIB promotes employment through jobseeker and employer services, training and education, workforce readiness preparation and economic development.
For more information on the SWORWIB, click here. | |
|
BUILDING A BETTER FUTURE
|
If you're a video gamer with great moves on the joystick, you might have the skills needed to run a backhoe. That's just one of the things students learned through experience at Construction Career Days, held Sept. 23-24 at the Butler County Fairgrounds. More than 2,000 students from 36 schools got a first-hand - and often hands-on - look at a wide variety of exciting construction career options. Barney Brill, heavy equipment instructor at Live Oaks High School, pointed out the connection between gaming dexterity and operating the controls on the newest digging equipment. "It's just one of the skills we look at," he explained, "along with more traditional ones like geometry and reading."
Students lined up to have the opportunity to run lifts, skid steer loaders, and concrete mixers, under the watchful eyes of industry volunteers. There were obstacle courses for concrete buggies, and a basketball goal set up for a mini-excavator. The fun activities engaged the students, but there were plenty of important messages, including safety equipment demonstrations. Royshawn Walker, an apprentice at Baker Concrete who had attended Construction Career Days as a student, supervised as several teens used trowels to smooth a concrete surface. "This is how I got my first try at this," he laughed. "Now it's serious!" Construction Career Days is part of the industry-wide effort to bring future workers into the construction "pathway." The SWORWIB is playing a role in this effort by supporting the Spirit of Construction Foundation's middle school outreach effort. Construction Advocate Anne Mitchell videotaped the career days activities to use as part of the middle school advocacy program.
|
CERTIFICATION GRADUATES TO ENROLL IN 'TRAINING THE TRAINER' |
In May, 44 people from Greater Cincinnati completed intensive training that resulted in their certification as Global Career Development Facilitators. Now, up to 10 of those graduates will take additional classes in "Training the Trainer" certification, spreading their expertise to even more people in workforce development.
The three-day training, which takes place Nov. 23-25 at the SuperJobs Center, will be taught by Master Trainer Emily Hatfield of Knoxville, Tenn. Hatfield has trained more than 250 workforce professionals in the Career Development Facilitator curriculum. Hatfield is the Services Manager of the Tennessee Career Center, the one-stop in Knoxville, Tenn., and has more than 25 years of experience in workforce development.
The training for Global Career Development Facilitators particularly focused on working with ex-offenders and getting them into the workforce. For Tina Kavanaugh, a field representative and peer trainer for the Ohio AFL-CIO, the barriers that ex-offenders face are the most daunting of all. "If I can work with ex-felons and the barriers they face, I can deal with the barriers dislocated workers face." she said. "So I am really excited to be able to take the 'Train the Trainer' course." This additional training, which is being funded by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation and the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr./U.S. Bank Foundation, will allow this core group to train others for the GCDF certification. |
GOODWILL PARTNERS WITH SJC TO HELP HOMELESS VETERANS |
Homeless veterans will get a leg up on access to jobs services, thanks to a new partnership between the SuperJobs Center and the Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries, which operates the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program. Veterans Employment and Training Services (VETS) already provides services at the SJC. Goodwill, which plans to have a case manager at the SJC on Mondays, will be that much closer if a homeless veteran comes to the SuperJobs Center seeking help from VETS to find a job. "That way if homeless vets are referred to us from other staffers at the SuperJobs Center, we can do an on-site assessment, get them into the VA, and refer them into transitional housing," said Mick Fusco, grants manager at Goodwill. "If we catch them early, the fix is a lot easier. If they are showing up at SuperJobs, we can get them ready for work." Goodwill has administered the reintegration program, funded by the Department of Labor, since 1993. It typically serves from 300-350 homeless veterans a year, said Fusco. In the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, outcomes showed that 80 percent of the veterans who got a job were retaining that job after 180 days, and making an average wage of $10.01 an hour. "We are excited about the SuperJobs new partnership with Goodwill," said Sherry Kelley Marshall, President/CEO. "This will give homeless veterans greater access to immediate services to help them stabilize their lives and get back in the workforce."
| |
|
|
|
|
|