 Pictured clockwise
from top left are: Ashley Yang, STEP-UP alumna and event emcee; City of
Minneapolis and AchieveMpls STEP-UP teams; Asian Media Access dance group
performing; and STEP-UP interns celebrating prior to the event.
On Thursday, August 17, STEP-UP held its 14th annual End of the
Summer Celebration at the Guthrie Theater. Over 750 STEP-UP interns,
supervisors, employers and supporters came together to celebrate another
successful summer of STEP-UP, the City’s youth employment program. This summer, nearly 1,700 Minneapolis young
people completed internships with 230 Twin Cities employers.
The event was hosted by STEP-UP alumna Ashley Yang with
reflections from current interns Destiny Rollie and Badrudin Aden. The
celebration featured a welcome by the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board
Park Pathways Program and a performance by Asian Media Access.
STEP-UP co-chairs R.T. Rybak, former Minneapolis mayor and
current president and CEO of The Minneapolis Foundation; Richard Davis, Chairman
and CEO of U.S. Bank; and David Frank, interim Director of CPED, announced the
2017 Employer, Intern, and Supervisor of the Year awards.
The Employer of the Year winners are:
- Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board, a STEP-UP partner since 2004, has employed 1,500 STEP-UP interns to date.
- Accenture, in addition to being a
STEP-UP employer, provides volunteers, curriculum and support for STEP-UP employer engagement.
Learn about the intern and supervisor award winners
here.
Recently, Goodwill-Easter Seals Minnesota was one of seven organizations nationwide to receive the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services first-ever “Employer of Excellence” designation for providing individuals from underserved communities with career training and job placement.
Here are some Goodwill-Easter Seals (GES) job training program features that make it stand out among its peers.
* A concentration on the construction, automotive services, medical office and banking and finance industries provides program participants training to become patient representatives, insurance specialists, medical receptionists, tellers, personal bankers, mortgage processors, carpenters or general laborers.
* Unique training locations such as classes at a U.S. Bank branch where students in the banking and finance program gain real-life, hands-on experience by working alongside employees and managers.
* Career school accreditation means training program graduates can earn college credits that allow them to advance their careers in the future if they decide to pursue the traditional college education.
* Assistance for participants to successfully complete the training programs includes childcare or bus fare and clothes to those who can’t afford them.
* Training program curricula, developed in partnership with business leaders who know in-demand employment skills, informs participants about today’s labor market.
* Hundreds of GES employer partners seeking skilled workers.
* Experienced program instructors help students to be more connected to the industries.
Read More
Minneapolis Industry Pop Quiz: Do
you know which employment sector provides over 45% of all “first time” job
opportunities? If you guessed “hospitality and entertainment,” you’re correct.
Beyond a career entry-point, the hospitality sector supports a host of
professional-level careers. On-ramps to operations and management professions,
culinary arts, and to corporate and international business careers, are surging
in popularity.
According to the Minnesota
Hospitality Association, the state’s employers are experiencing record-high job
vacancies. Likewise, the Minneapolis market is simmering with opportunity, with
multiple, large-scale events on the horizon. To support local hospitality
employers’ efforts to reach new and diverse candidate pools, Minneapolis
Employment and Training is working closely with industry partners to design and
deliver a series of talent attraction events this year. The Minneapolis
Convention Center hosted an on-site hiring event on August 15th. On September
13th, an event featuring a keynote speaker, employer panel, and on-site
application and interview stations is planned at the Minneapolis Downtown
Library from 1-4 p.m. This event is to help the Convention Center staff up for
the Super Bowl and other big events happening in the near future.
Flyer
for September13 Hospitality Fair
The DHS Resettlement Programs Office has announced free
training opportunities in partnership with the federal Department of Justice Immigrant
and Employee Rights Section (IER). One of the trainings is for employment service
providers who work directly with refugees and immigrants, and one is for
employers who hire refugees and immigrants.
Employment service providers can RSVP
here for a training on
- Sept. 11, 1:30 pm at the International Institute in St. Paul, MN, or
- Sept. 12,
2:30 pm at the St. Cloud Public Library
Employers may RSVP
here for a training to be held:
- Sept. 11, 10:30 am at the International Institute, St. Paul, MN, or
- Sept. 12,
10 am at St. Cloud Workforce Center
Employment service providers and employers can also find
information, technical assistance, referrals, webinars, and a hotline to help
with their questions about immigrant rights at the IER website.
Minnesota philanthropies are putting more time, money and
political clout into efforts aimed at getting jobs for the state’s neediest
residents. The new focus reflects a growing sense that the most effective way
to address homelessness, poverty and the effects of racial disparities may be
through job training and workforce development.
A group of foundations called the Minneapolis-St. Paul
Regional Workforce Innovation Network —MSP Win for short — is urging more accountability
in how the state spends its $150 million annual budget on workforce training.
It lobbied legislators in 2014 to create an annual report card, maintained by
DEED, to measure outcomes of state funded training programs.
MSP Win convinced the state to invest more in proven winners
and to nearly triple the budget of its proven Pathways to Prosperity programs,
to $12.3 million for the next two years.
Pathways participants are trained for jobs through community
colleges, nonprofit programs and on-the-job training. Hennepin County has taken
400 interns and hired about 130 people full-time who make at least $15 an hour
with benefits. That takes people off the welfare rolls while also helping to
fill hundreds of vacancies ranging from 911 operators to IT support.
MSP Win has been instrumental in the Twin Cities Regional
Workforce Council, which will meet for the first time this fall to create a
metro-wide plan for workforce development and job training.
Learn more.
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