Monthly Archives June 2017

KRA Monthly Spotlight!

Our June Spotlight! is shining brightly on “Chicago, Chicago, that toddlin’ town”!  Recently, on behalf of KRA and its client-partner, the Chicago-Cook Workforce Partnership (CCWP), Ron Hearns, KRA Director of Midwest Workforce Operations, welcomed 60 guests to the Grand Opening of the Westside American Job Center! Hearns then introduced Knowlton R. Atterbeary, KRA President & CEO, who extended his own welcome, including a special thank-you, to the assemblage, which included Karin Norington-Reaves, CCWP CEO; Toni Preckwinkle, Cook County Board President; Alicia Ivy, Administrative Assistant to Ward 7 Alderman, Walter Burnett; and a host of Chicago-Cook region representatives and stakeholders. The Westside Center opened
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KRA Supports Building A Better Long Beach

Recently, the Long Beach City News website reported, “On Tuesday, June 6, Mayor Robert Garcia, in partnership with the Long Beach Business Journal, presented an update on new development within the City and major construction projects underway that are ready to break ground over the next few years.” Long Beach is “home” to KRA’s first Knowedge2Career (K2C) Academy—a proprietary workforce-services program for young adults disconnected from school and the workplace—and the K2C Team, especially Joanie Sonnet, KRA Business Liaison, was more than a little excited to learn about the City’s new-development plans. Robert Garcia, Long Beach Mayor was joined by
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Trump Order Weakens Apprenticeship System, Continues to Slash Funding for Workforce Training

June 19, 2017 – Reprint from CLASP (Center for Law and Social Policy), a national, nonpartisan, anti-poverty organization advancing policy solutions that work for low-income people.   On June 15, 2017, President Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) meant to “expand apprenticeships in America.” Under the current system, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) and state apprenticeship agencies register all apprenticeship programs. However, this EO proposes to decentralize the registration of apprenticeships to enable third parties—including a variety of corporate, nonprofit, trade groups, or other entities—to independently register or recognize apprenticeships. The implementation of this EO is likely to expand
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This is Workforce Development

Reprint of June 15, 2017 San Diego Workforce Partnership* CEO Message The idea of “workforce development week” by the Trump administration sounds promising…on the surface. However, the President’s proposed budget plan includes a 40% cut in funding. That is not a typo. This is not a cut. This is absurd. This is an evisceration of a system that works. Funding for workforce development has already been reduced by $1 billion since 2010. Cutting further is counterintuitive and would be devastating to millions of job seekers around the country. Many of those impacted would be our most vulnerable, at-risk and underrepresented. The
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KRA Presents at NAWDP 2017 Annual Conference

In addition to two Pre-Conference Workshops, this year’s National Association of Workforce Development Professionals event featured 70 General Workshops, presented through five “tracks”, two of which were Leveraging and Establishing Partnerships and Priority Populations. Six KRA subject-matter experts presented exciting workshops relevant to the other three tracks: Business and Economic Development – John Hattery, Director, Strategic Partners; Pamela Carnes, Program Manager, Business Engagement Services; and Jonathan Overall, Senior Business Services Consultant, co-conducted Congratulations! You’re the Business Services Manager…Now What? on innovative strategies for building regional business partnerships, initiating one-on-one business-engagement relationships, and effectively measuring results against WIOA performance standards. Delivering
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KRA Monthly Spotlight!

One of the many innovative workforce-services programs that achieves exceptional results through the KRA San Diego Metro Region Career Centers, operated for the San Diego Workforce Partnership, is Breaking Barriers San Diego (BBSD). Critical to supporting jobseekers with mental-health challenges, including substance abuse, BBSD provides comprehensive assistance, resulting in competitive-wage employment with area businesses. BBSD also provides for 6-months’ post-placement follow-up services that support both the employer and the new employee. Our Spotlight! is shining brightly on Olivia Young, who after release from 5 years in prison, enrolled in the Harmony Women’s Recovery Center (HWRC) for addiction treatment—a condition of parole and
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