Machias CareerCenter Employee Wins National Workforce Award

**E. Janie Small recognized for outstanding service to local youth**

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 27, 2016 Media Contact: Julie Rabinowitz, Julie.rabinowitz@maine.gov

AUGUSTA - Commissioner of Labor Jeanne Paquette is pleased to announce that E. Janie Wilder Small of the Machias CareerCenter has won the 2016 James F. Walls Workforce Agency Employee Award of the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA).

This award was established to honor an associate within a workforce development agency who has demonstrated extraordinary innovation and exemplary service to their community, state, or country as a whole. Small is the Youth Program Administrator for Washington County. The award was presented September 27 in Oklahoma City, OK at NASWA's 80th Annual National Conference.

"Janie's personal and professional goal is to eradicate generational poverty in Maine's poorest county," stated Commissioner Paquette. "She is the first person from Maine and only the second from New England to earn this honor. Her office is covered with photos and thank you notes from those whom she helped secure scholarships, meet education and training needs, and find stable employment. She is an asset to our department and the people we serve in Washington County and Maine as a whole."

Small is the Youth Program Administrator for Washington County. She began her career in the public workforce system over 35 years ago through the Department of Labor's Summer Youth Employment Program. Among the numerous dynamic initiatives she has participated in, last summer she was chosen to represent Maine by the Manhattan Strategy Project and the U.S. Department of Education in the making of a film on how states address truancy, dropout, and alternative school issues.

"It humbles me to be recognized for doing my job," Small stated. "To have a job where I can enhance and change lives every day is incredible. I have the best job in the world."

"Ms. Small exemplifies every facet the James F. Walls Workforce Agency Employee Award was established to recognize," said Scott Sanders, executive director of NASWA. "Through years of diligence and innovative efforts, countless lives in Maine and possibly throughout the country have been touched and improved by her wonderful spirit of servant leadership."

NASWA also recognized several other individuals and entities who have provided vital community workforce and economic development opportunities as a part of their Salute to Leadership awards ceremony at their 80th Annual National Conference. More information about award recipients and categories can be found at http://www.naswa.org/meetings/annualconference2016/?action=salute .

The National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA) is a national organization of state administrators of the publicly-funded state workforce system, including the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), employment services, training programs, unemployment insurance, employment statistics and labor market and workforce information. NASWA delivers policy expertise on workforce development, including unemployment insurance and other transitional support, as the voice of state workforce agencies.

The Machias CareerCenter, part of the Maine Department of Labor, provides a variety of employment and training services at no charge for Maine job seekers and businesses. The Youth Program provides career exploration and guidance, continued support for educational attainment, opportunities for skills training in in-demand industries and occupations for youth who face significant barriers to employment with the goal of helping a young person find a good job along a career pathway or enrolling in post-secondary education. More information is available on the CareerCenter website, http://www.mainecareercenter.com .

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