Carolyn Roby has recently retired as Chair of the Minneapolis
Workforce Council following her retirement as Vice President at Wells Fargo
Foundation MN.
Carolyn’s commitment to community is evidenced by her work
on the Minneapolis Workforce Council, a member since 1994 and as the Chair
since 2006. In this role, Carolyn kept Minneapolis job seekers interests at the
forefront of many iterations of employment and training programs over the
years. Her leadership will be remembered as one with a focus on racial equity
in employment and youth career development.
During her tenure as Chair of the Minneapolis Workforce
Council tens of thousands of Minneapolis residents, both adults and youth,
found career paths and reached self-sufficiency through a unique
community-based partnership model. Carolyn played an integral role in
developing and supporting this effective network of community-based service
delivery organizations within the City of Minneapolis.
Under Carolyn’s active leadership, City of Minneapolis
Employment and Training has earned numerous awards, commendations, certificates
of appreciation and recognition for outstanding service delivery, efficiency,
and effectiveness, most notably for the nationally recognized STEP-UP program
that has provided more than 21,000 internships since 2004.
Carolyn has earned the respect of her colleagues in
workforce development for her unwavering commitment to a responsive,
high-quality community based delivery system.
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HIRED receiving the 2015 Youth Provider of the Year award from City of Minneapolis
Employment and Training. Pictured
L to R: Tyler Olson, Minneapolis Workforce Council; Deb Bahr-Helgen, City
of Minneapolis Employment and Training;
Jane Samargia, Jan West, and Kelley Eubanks, HIRED; and Carlye Peterson,
Minneapolis Workforce Council
HIRED has partnered with Minneapolis Employment and Training for more
than 30 years to provide personalized and innovative work solutions to serve the needs of individuals who are disconnected from the workforce. HIRED’s
service model includes career counseling for individualized support, workshops
to develop and enhance skills and job search strategies, and targeted training
for specific career tracks. HIRED has seven locations throughout Minneapolis,
including high schools and community centers, where employment counselors
provide services to job seekers from start to finish.
Dislocated workers receive help to revamp job search materials, create
their personal brand, and strengthen their skill set with training or education
so that they can return to work quickly and at the highest skill and wage level
possible.
Adult low-income job seekers, detached from the workforce and with steep
barriers to employment, are offered services that help stabilize personal situations
and allow for time to focus on enhancing skills. Services center on workshops,
coursework, and training that are critical for careers with promising futures.
At-risk youth struggling to stay in school, return to school, or find
their first jobs get individualized support through a team of dedicated
counselors focused on putting youth on the path to more stable futures through
workforce attachment.
HIRED has strong connections with local employers and has maintained an
Employer Services Division and Employer Advisory Boards which allow for
up-to-date information about local hiring trends.
Partnerships with ABE providers, Hennepin Technical College, Normandale
Community College, local employers, and others make it possible to offer
training programs that meet the demand for well-prepared and qualified workers. Many participants earn industry-recognized credentials in high growth
industries (health care, manufacturing, green construction, transportation,
food and hospitality, and customer service) and are able to find jobs in their
area of training.
An example of the impact of HIRED’s work is the recruitment and
successful hire of the first manager of color in the history of Seward
Coop. Vivian Mims came to HIRED as a
dislocated worker in need of job search assistance, and after working with an
employment counselor and refocusing her job search strategies, the position at
Seward Coop became available and she was selected for it. See Vivian’s story in
City
Pages.
City of Minneapolis Employment and Training, using funds from the state
of Minnesota targeted toward career advising, is partnering with the
Minneapolis Workforce Centers to deliver career advising workshops to high
school students.
On April 23, 20 students attended the first set of workshops.
The students in this group were youth that had applied for the STEP-UP summer
program but were unable to attend the required work readiness training. Using
the Career Edventure curriculum, the workshops provided a second chance for
students to explore career interests using current assessment tools and
coaching. In addition, the three-hour sessions allowed the participants to
learn effective job search and networking strategies, interviewing techniques, and how to update or develop a resume that highlights their skills. All workshop
participants received individualized coaching and feedback and left the session
with three current job leads that fit their skills and interests. Additional
workshops are scheduled in June.
Over the past two years, the City’s department of Community Planning
and Economic Development (CPED) has undertaken an internal review of
programmatic support for cooperative development. As a result, CPED has decided to expand its
current Business Technical Assistance Program (B-TAP) to
include services aimed at specifically assisting co-ops or the Cooperative
Technical Assistance Program (C-TAP).
B-TAP was created to provide business consulting support to businesses
located in the City of Minneapolis.
Through B-TAP, the City of Minneapolis department of Community Planning
and Economic Development contracts with 13 local nonprofit organizations
focused on entrepreneur training and economic development to provide direct
services to new and existing small and medium sized businesses in Minneapolis
with an emphasis on women and minority owned businesses.
By creating C-TAP, the City desires to leverage the co-op model for
maximum community benefit to
- Use the co-op model as an economic development
tool to reduce poverty and promote social cohesion
- Increase racial and ethnic diversity
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Promote innovation, community building, and
local investment by promoting a more collaborative business model.
On Saturday, April 30, over 500 teens, many with parents in tow,
descended on the Hennepin County Library - Minneapolis Central for the 10th
annual Minneapolis Teen Job and Opportunity Fair.
The teens, dressed in their best, took advantage of the opportunity to
connect with 40 exhibitors offering training, employment, and volunteer
experiences.
At workshops offered at the fair, teens learned how to conduct a job
search and land a job from Minneapolis North WorkForce Center and EMERGE
Community Development staff. A panel of employers facilitated by the
Minneapolis Youth Congress gave advice on how young people can leave a positive
impression when applying for a job. Attendees also learned how to dress
professionally at a fashion show “Pro Up to Glow Up” from Aveda Institute and
the Minneapolis Youth Congress.
Hennepin County librarians were on hand to help teens fill out online
resumes and with resources for their employment searches.
The Teen Job Fair was produced by City of Minneapolis Community
Planning and Economic Development , Hennepin County, Hennepin County Library,
AchieveMpls, Minneapolis WorkForce Centers, Lunds and Byerlys, Minneapolis Park
and Recreation Board, Minneapolis Youth Congress, Minneapolis Youth
Coordinating Board, EMERGE, East Side Neighborhood Services, and Aveda
Institute.
In recent years the labor market in Minnesota has recovered to the
point that unemployment is no longer the serious issue it once was with rates
for 16 to 19 year olds falling below 10 percent last year.
By the end of 2015
the unemployment rate for this age group reached its lowest point since the
summer of 2002, well before the recession hit in 2007. Unemployment for all
workers in Minnesota reached 3 percent in late 2015, the lowest rate in 15
years. More than at any other time in recent years, Minnesota teens who wanted
a job in 2015 were able to find one, a sign that healthy market figures should
carry over into the summer of 2016.
As Figure 3 below shows, summer participation in the labor market is
much higher in Minnesota than in the rest of the United States. There has been
a distinct uptick in participation in Minnesota since 2013, while U.S.
participation rates have remained largely flat.
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