Lancaster:  Here's a testimony from a satisfied customer..."I want to tell you though that the Ready2Work program was a benefit for me. When my job ended so abrubtly I just couldn't think and I needed the focus on myself that the Ready2Work program offered. It taught me to look deep into myself and figure out what am I good at, what can I actually contribute, what have I accomplished in the past and how do I sell myself into a new position. The focus the program offered me was a true benefit especially when so many other applicants are applying and interviewing for the same positions I was.

The benefit of a strong resume was extremely helpful and at one time I thought I knew how to put it together to make it appeal to perspective employeers. I wasn't even close. Your program gave me the skills I needed to be able to understand how and to actually put together a solid resume, cover letter and the follow up thank you letter. Although I can't take advantage of some of the other opportunities Career Link has to offer right now maybe in the future when I settle into this position I may have the time."  - Tammy Powers just recently took a job in retail.

Lancaster:  On Wednesday, May 19, Scott Sheely, Executive Director of the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board announced that the PA CareerLink of Lancaster County in partnership with the PA Departments of Labor and Industry and Public Welfare will be offering a work experience program for young people ages 18-24 called Way to Work and for adults 18 and over called the Adult Subsidized Employment Program.  See attached for a downloadable summary by clicking here as well as an employer application by clicking here.

Essentially, the program provides very low-cost labor through September 30, 2010

• Government subsidies pay the cost of the wage to the participants;
• Placements are for a minimum 20 hours per week and a maximum of 40 hours per week;
• Wages for the Way to Work program will be the minimum wage of $7.25 while wages for the Adult Subsidized Employment program can vary up to a maximum of $13 per hour;
• A competitively procured staffing service will be the employer of record providing payroll services and worker's compensation coverage;
• However, employers are responsible for the employer share of relevant federal and state taxes which we calculate to be roughly $2 per hour and any wages and associated fringe benefits paid above the $13 hour limit for employee wages;
• Exceptions to the $2 per hour contribution will be made for non-profit organizations;
• Placement sites will have the opportunity to interview the candidates for placement in their businesses or organizations.

Program participants will be people using the welfare system (cash assistance, food stamps, medical assistance), low-income families, and dislocated workers who have exhausted their unemployment benefits who have graduated from the Ready2Work program and, wherever possible, completed at least one training program offered by the PA CareerLink. Many will be people who have a work history but who just have not been able to find employment due to the recession.

Lancaster: On Friday, May 7, 2010, eighteen Lancaster residents graduated from Construction 101, a pre-apprenticeship program for careers in the construction industry that is co-sponsored by the Lancaster County Workforce Investment Board and Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in partnership with Lancaster County Adult Probation and Parole Services, Neighborhood Services, the PA CareerLink of Lancaster County, SACA, and the Keystone Chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors at a ceremony held at Stevens College.

Those graduating included Alejandro Arroyo, Kelvin Dennison, Bryant Hanson, Cordell Harris, Tyran Hart, Paul Hines, James Jenkins, Edward Kauffman, Zasha Lopez, Pedro Martinez, Andre Miller, Steven Miltenberger, Kevin Murphy, Douglas Parker, Alex Patterson, Felix Perez III, Sammy Reeves, and Joseph Williams.

Lancaster: Officials of the PA Department of Labor and Industry and PA Workforce Investment Board toured our sites in Lancaster City where the Construction 201 training class is rehabilitating houses for the City of Lancaster.  Dan Kuba, Kelly Whitman, and Veronica Snyder saw the four houses at 414 S. Queen St., 532 Fremont St., 70 S. Marshall St., and 540 Poplar St. that are being made ready for sale with Paul Risk Associates and Wohlsen Contruction providing the general contracting leadership.  The local Pennsylvania Conservation Corps crew is also participating in the project.

Mayor Rick Gray and Randy Patterson, Director of Economic Development and Neighborhood Revitalization, from the City of Lancaster along with William Griscom, President of the Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology, joined the tour and spoke to the unique partnership which has been developed between the Workforce Investment Board, the City, Thaddeus Steven College, and the two general contractors.  Mayor Gray said that "this project is fulfilling the vision of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act by creating jobs and making a contribution to the quality of living in a city like Lancaster".