A few years ago, Margii Crackel found herself with the difficult task of finding a new job. Even with a teaching background, years of experience and the internet full of job listings, she knew she needed more personal assistance.

Employment Services of Weld County (ESWC) offered a helping hand when she needed it most.

“I came here quite honestly feeling rather desperate, and they gave me help in so many ways,” said Crackel, a former elementary school teacher.

The help began in 2017 after she attended a regional job fair hosted by ESWC, which opened her eyes to numerous services available at no cost to residents, and geared toward building their skillset and making them stronger employees. Soon, she registered for a budgeting and finance class, a résumé workshop, and a transferrable skills workshop — just a few of the services offered by ESWC. The new skills made Crackel an even stronger candidate, and her job search came to an end, perhaps unexpectedly, when she joined ESWC as an employee doing clerical work for the Colorado Works Team, then developing a workshop program for Spanish-speaking residents in ESWC’s registration unit.

Now, her experience with ESWC has come full circle. Today, in her full-time role as a Workshop Facilitator, she assists others on their employment journey.

"I never came here expecting such a thing,” Crackel said, reflecting on her path from utilizing ESWC as a resource to a career helping others do the same. “It was such a welcome joy and relief to be able to now pay it forward, as they say. And now I tell them my story so that maybe they can glean something from it, and maybe they’ll go through our employment and training programs, and maybe they can get some of this help.”

Statistics illustrate ESWC is having success. In program year 2022, which spanned from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2023, ESWC assisted 10,568 jobseekers. Four thousand one hundred and fifty-two of those participants were known to have secured employment, and the median earnings of those individuals were in the $30,000 range. While that may not seem like a lot at first glance, going from unemployment or underemployment to finding a sustainable career is a massive step forward.

“I can recall looking for a new job myself in the past, and back then I had no idea about all of the resources that are actually available,” said Andrew Chadwick, Business Services Manager for ESWC.

Those resources range from physical — a resource room available to anyone in the community looking for a job, with computers to assist in a job search or draft a résumé — to skill-building classes, like the ones Crackel took advantage of many years ago. The Department of Human Services’ child care team is also located within ESWC to assess someone’s need for child care assistance, and veterans receive priority access to job fairs and all other services provided by ESWC.

These beneficial services aren’t solely available to prospective employees, they extend to employers as well. Chadwick and his team help facilitate job fairs and seminars — notably the annual Young Adult Job Fair and the Workforce Symposium — get openings placed on the ConnectingColorado Job Board and provide space for employers to conduct interviews. Employers can even receive assistance from ESWC staff in reviewing their hiring processes.

This vast array of available services positions ESWC as a one-stop shop for employment assistance. Still, there’s a desire to increase residents’ awareness overall and have an even greater impact. Doing so can create a stronger workforce countywide and continue making a meaningful difference in people’s lives.

“We want to make sure everybody in our community knows about our services and knows this is a place they can come for any job-search related activity,” said Karina Amaya Ragland, ESWC Workforce Director.

That realization, and the end result of utilizing ESWC to find a job or fill an opening, is what staff is most excited about moving forward.

“We love sharing our services with job seekers and employers alike and seeing the passion that everyone has in all facets of the process,” Amaya Ragland said.

For the past several months, Weld County's public information team has benefitted from the help of a student intern from the University of Northern Colorado. In the next issue of County Roots, learn more about her experience and what she's gained from it as she readies for graduation and life's next chapter.