Center News: December 2002

 

More than a dozen-plus chambers joined a select group of employer intermediaries, national workforce leaders, and funders at the WINs Showcase:  Transforming Workforce Development in New York City last month. The showcase focused on strategies to help employers become more effective in hiring, retaining, training, and advancing workers and to improve the employment and wages for individuals seeking jobs and skills. WINs, funded by the Ford and Annie E. Casey foundations, is a national partnership of CWP, the National Association of Manufacturers, and Jobs for the Future. 

 

About WINs

 

CWP Hosts Academy Wrap-up

CWP hosted the wrap-up event for the five chambers and their local teams that participated in Phase 2 of the Workforce Academy Model project.  Representatives from the chambers in Bozeman, Mont.; Clarksville, Tenn.; Helena, Mont.; Jackson, Miss.; and North Clackamas County, Ore. met at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce on December 10-11 to share their successes, knowledge, and plans for further activity following an intensive year working on the project.  The meeting also featured a discussion with congressional staff on  the Workforce Investment Act. For additional information, contact Scott Cheney at 202-887-3441 or scheney@uschamber.com.  

 

As a group, people with disabilities are a source of qualified workers who are often overlooked, want to work, but have not been given the opportunity. A joint release between CWP and Virginia Commonwealth University's Rehabilitation, Research and Training Center (VCU-RRTC), this research report, Employer's Views on Workplace Supports, provides a look at what employers in major corporations think about the recruiting, hiring, and training of workers with disabilities.

 

On November 20, 2002, the Center for Workforce Preparation, in partnership with the San Diego Regional Chamber Foundation and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), launched the Operation Transitions Demonstration Project. Funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, this 12-month demonstration project will help the city of San Diego to develop a model for improving employment and education outcomes for transitioning military and their spouses. 

 

Utilizing the Chamber's membership, and relationships established by the Foundation's Business Roundtable for Education with the education community, the project will detail specific employment strategies and demonstrate the role of chambers of commerce in promoting and supporting a coordinated workforce delivery system for veterans. 

 

The event was the first in a series of activities to bring stakeholders in the community together to discuss the issues. Key community leaders were represented as well as staff from the offices of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and the mayor of San Diego. For more information contact Tonda Williams at 202-463-5439 or twilliam@uschamber.com.
 

 

Ticket to Hire

Ticket to Hire is a service funded by the Social Security Administration with additional support from the U.S. Department of Labor. Ticket to Hire works to meet staffing needs by linking qualified workers to employment networks in communities that have motivated, job-ready candidates with disabilities. For more information on this program please call 1-866-889- 4473 or visit .

 

Online Course: ADA & Reasonable Accommodations in the Workplace
RRTC on Workplace Supports is offering "ADA & Reasonable Accommodations in the Workplace," an online course for employers, HR professionals, front line supervisors, and small business owners. The course runs from February 3 to March 17, 2003.

 

Register online at http://www.vcu.edu/rrtcweb/cyberu/webcourse/adareg.html or call 804-827-0735.