Leaders in Industry-Specific Workforce Development

SJI provides proven training tools to employers, employment training services, and case managers nationwide. SJI’s innovative Breaking the Code training seminars help supervisors build the practical skills to effectively and efficiently manage the challenges of entry-level workers. Additionally, SJI’s Case Management and Retention seminar and training materials outline ways trainers and case managers can help low-income residents enter and stay in today’s competitive labor market.

Contact Anne Keeney, Sector Manager, at (206) 628-6970 or visit www.seattlejobsinitiative.com

PROJECT QUEST
Project QUEST acts as an employment broker, serving San Antonio employers by developing training through partnerships with community colleges and leveraging support services through nonprofits and the public sector. It has developed employer-based training programs in health care, information technology, and maintenance and repair, and has earned national recognition for its health care program. Routine labor market research and employer feedback ensure up-to-date training for the highest demand occupations.

Since 1992, QUEST has demonstrated that low-income San Antonians can secure and hold high-skill, high-wage jobs through a program strategy that combines long-term occupational skills training (usually a year or more) and intensive case management. More the 1,400 low-income residents, many of whom are recipients of public assistance, have completed high-skills training programs resulting in jobs in over 550 San Antonio businesses. Collectively, in the twelve months after leaving QUEST, these new workers earned approximately $25.8 million.

For more information, contact Mary Pena, Executive Director, at (210) 270-4690 or visit www.questsa.com

WIRE-NET
Westside Industrial Retention and Expansion Network (WIRE-Net) works with Cleveland manufacturers to provide workforce development and training, manufacturing improvement, community investment and redevelopment, and expansion and relocation services. Founded in 1988, the organization serves more than 150 members and stands as a model for employer-led associations around the country.

WIRE-Net provides its members with numerous services including sales and marketing forums, technology roundtables, finance development assistance, industrial real estate services, and a workforce development and job placement program.

WIRE-Net's WorkSource program matches employer needs with local training programs, and has helped revitalize Cleveland's west side. WIRE-Net also used its deep knowledge of precision machining to coordinate a training program for low-income people with the nearby NASA Glenn Research Center. The creation of a qualified workforce has significantly contributed to the retention and growth of many west-side manufacturers.

Contact John Colm, Executive Director, at (216) 631-7330 or visit www.wire-net.org

HOMEBOYZ INTERACTIVE
Homeboyz Interactive operates an apprenticeship training program and Web development business that provide gang-influenced youth the skills and experience needed to succeed in high-technology jobs. Founded in 1996 by Jim Holub, S.J., more than 140 people have completed the program and have gone on to jobs as software developers, Web designers, and database and network administrators at leading companies. Importantly, 100% of these graduates have transformed their lives and become contributing members of our community. None have returned to their former ways.

Homeboyz funds its training program and provides experience for its trainees through IT consulting contracts with Fortune 500 companies, prestigious nonprofit organizations and tech-savvy government entities. Consulting services include Web-based software applications, Web presence projects, and e-commerce services. The organization is known for its award-winning Web work, efficient software solutions, and innovative business model. Founded in Milwaukee, Homeboyz expanded its program with a facility in Chicago in 2002.

Contact Danny Goldberg, Local Director, at (414) 672-3346 or visit www.homeboyz.com

PRIMAVERA WORKS
Primavera WORKS provides the training and support that helps homeless and low-income individuals become reliable, entry-level workers for Tucson-area employers. In addition to assisting with permanent placements, Primavera also functions as a day-labor service for Tucson-area businesses in need of daily workers, short-term crew work, or temp-to-hire positions. Primavera specializes in placements in construction, janitorial, light manufacturing, data entry, landscaping and grounds keeping.

By providing motivated and trained workers for short-term projects, Primavera eliminates business costs for interviewing, payroll expenses, workers compensation, and unemployment insurance. Primavera also provides transportation, lunch, and safety gear for its workers — ensuring better performance and improved working conditions for the often exploited day-labor workers. Primavera serves an average of 900 people each year — 350 through its day-labor program.

Contact Don Chatfield, Executive Director, at (520) 882-5383 or via email at dchatfield@primavera.org

PARAPROFESSIONAL HEALTHCARE INSTITUTE (PHI)
Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute (PHI) helps health care providers address their recruitment, training, and turnover challenges by developing a stable, high-quality workforce.

Nationally recognized as a leader in the health care industry for its innovative approach and replicable successes, PHI has established a Consulting Services branch to help employers such as nursing homes and home care providers benefit from PHI's knowledge and experience. PHI is affiliated with the nationally recognized Cooperative Home Care Associates, one of the most successful recruitment, training, and employment agencies in the home health care industry.

PHI creates better-quality care and better-quality jobs by improving recruitment and training practices, helping providers build supportive work environments, improving caregiver practices, and sharing strategies for the development of public policy initiatives. PHI provides customized consulting services, as well as an array of practical stand-alone handbooks, videos, and other materials that help create a "culture of staff support and retention."

For more information, contact Ms. Christine Rico, Vice President, at (718) 402-7446 or visit www.paraprofessional.org

ASIAN NEIGHBORHOOD DESIGN (AND)
Asian Neighborhood Design was developed in 1973 out of the community revitalization efforts of a group of student architects working in the densely crowded neighborhoods of San Francisco’s Chinatown. Today, Asian Neighborhood Design provides training in cabinetry, carpentry and other construction trades, and remains a neighborhood revitalization and housing renovation program helping low-income Bay area residents, hard-to-place welfare recipients and ex-felons achieve selfsufficiency. AND has entered formal partnerships and joint ventures with organizations as far away as Connecticut that wish to replicate AND’s highly effective approach to training and its balance between business and social goals.

For more information, please visit www.andnet.org/home.html

GARMENT INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (GIDC)
The Garment Industry Development Corporation (GIDC) was founded in 1984 by a tri-partite collaboration among the local union, industry association and local government. GIDC intervenes in the New York City garment industry on multiple levels, providing a wide range of training services for workers, as well as technical and marketing assistance to businesses.

In New York City, the garment industry employs more than 70,000 individuals (one-third of the city’s manufacturing employment). GIDC seeks to upgrade both the skills of these workers, in order to help them obtain full-time employment with benefits, and the proficiency of the industry as a whole.

For more information contact Linda Dworak at (212) 366-6160 or visit www.gidc.org

FOCUS:HOPE
Focus:HOPE is a civil- and human-rights organization founded in 1968 in the aftermath of the Detroit riots. Today the organization pursues its objectives in the metalworking industry through various strategic interventions, offering precision machining and metalwork training to inner-city youth and young adults. It also provides hands-on learning for students and produces parts and services for the automobile and other industries.

Focus:HOPE has grown to about 800 employees and thousands of volunteers. The organization’s programs have served tens of thousands of disadvantaged Detroiters, and its educational and training programs have earned the organization a national reputation.

For more information contact Joanna Woods at (313) 494-4208 or visit www.focushope.edu

JANE ADDAMS RESOURCE CORPORATION (JARC)
Founded in 1984 as a community development corporation, Jane Addams Resource Corporation is dedicated to retaining and growing local industry by providing residents with educational services and offering job training in the metalworking industry, as well as providing assistance to small- and medium-size metalworking manufacturing businesses in modernization and human resource management.

Through JARC’s many programs, the organization has developed an integrated response to linked urban problems of industrial decline, the eroding tax base on Chicago’s north side and the weakening of community support systems.

For more information contact Margaret Haywood at (773) 728-4769, or visit www.jarc.org