Eighty-Eight County Residents Graduate from Ready2Work

Lancaster: On Friday, November 21, eighty-eight Lancaster County residents graduated from Ready2Work, a workforce readiness program that is sponsored by the PA CareerLink of Lancaster County at a ceremony held at Liberty Place. Community partners include the Spanish-American Civic Association, Brightside Baptist Church, the Urban League, and Neighborhood Services.

Those graduating included Joshua Acevedo, Gerald Allison, Gerald Armstrong, Kyle Bear, Maria Betances, Joshua Bouder, Michael Brown, Randy Brown, Joshua Burnstein, John Calixto, Carmelo Claudio, Sean Coleman, Ivonne Colon, Dwight Coston, Kathryn Culbertson, Richard Cunrod, Kirstie Denovitz, Jason Devirgilis, John Dindlebeck, Obed Dominguez, Brian Dortmans, Benjamin Duffy, Joshua Ellis, Tynell Espinosa, Jane Fantom, Ana Feliciano, Felix Figueroa-Colon, Ronshay Finks, April Gabriel, Aries Galarza, Luis Garcia, Jesse Godfrey, Ray Godwin, Jose Gonzales, Jeffrey Good, Destry Gravely, Hannah Gross, Theodore Gwalthney, Walter Herzog, Ismael Himes, Mariann Hollinger, Jeffrey Johnson, Rhonda Johnson, Jose Maldonado, Knowledge Mancotywa, Brandon Manuel, Sergio Martinez, Jose Mateo-Alverado, Nicholas McCaulley, Clark McSparren, Natalia Melendez, Luis Mendez, Robert Merced, Ieshsa Millisock, Herbert Moore, Victor Nelson, Taylor Penwell, Richard Peters, Deborah Pezold, Thomas Polanco, John Quigley, Yaritza Ramos, Volanda Ramos, Michael Reibson, Christopher Riley, Justine Rodriguez, Manny Rodriguez, Angel Rosa, Jose Rosado, Dale Roush, Maria Santana-Santiago, Anthony Santiago, Agnes Shen, Quenton Skrine, Barry Snader, Donna Spackman, Edward Staley, Analesse Torres, Johanna Torres, Lupersia Torres, Christina Torres-Gonzalez, Zachery Violante, Jerome Ward, Tyshaun Williams, Shirley Wilson, Melanie Witherow, and Almaz Yilalla.

Participants completed a program that usually takes from one-six weeks which includes career counseling; assessement foundational skills; remediation in reading, mathematics, and using charts and graphs; and a review of work skills around attendance, managing conflict, working with others, being prepared for transportation and child care emergencies, managing time and money, and other important issues. Participants receive a Career Readiness Credential from the Workforce Investment Board and the Lancaster Chamber upon completion of the WorkKeys standardized test of workforce skills.

Some of the graduates have gone on to other skill training programs in construction, welding, machine operation, printing, and food safety.

Counselors with the PA CareerLink help graduates make connections with Ready2Work employers who guarantee people with the Career Readiness Certificate a job interview if their skills match jobs that might be available. The list of 35+ employers which includes manufacturers, insurance agencies, long-term care facilities, and others is diverse and grows by dozens each month.

Tom Baldrige, President of the Lancaster Chamber, commented that "having a pool of people with a good foundation of basic workforce skills is a strong competitive advantage for our community. We think that this program begins to solve the problem experienced by employers of entry-level people not being ready to work."

Future classes run continuously. Contact Martin Wubbolt or Brenda Chavez at the PA CareerLink at 717-509-5613 ext. 385 or 717-391-3570 (TTY) for enrollment information.