Key 2011 Accomplishments

In the last program year, 4,514 (+30%) individual customers visited the Genesee County Career Center, making 17,862 total visits.  The Career Center served 49% more customers than any other One Stop Center in GLOW.  In addition, the Job Development Bureau assisted 542 participants with Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funded services.  When compared to the other three GLOW WIA Offices, the Job Development Bureau served 42% of the total 1,299 GLOW participants: Genesee County served 542, Livingston County served 337, Orleans County served 260, and Wyoming County served 160.

The Job Development Bureau and the Genesee County Career Center staff processed job orders from 267 area businesses (-13%), listing 837 job orders (+33%) for a total of 1,195 jobs in the Genesee region.  The Career Center received 63% of the total job orders in GLOW.  As a result, the Career Center assisted 3,486 (+27%) job seekers to secure new employment through our services, roughly 40% of the total new employment for all of GLOW during the period.

The Job Development Bureau participated in the NYS Department of Labor application for a national broadband technology grant under the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), funded through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Recovery Act.  The NYSDOL was one of 94 national projects selected for awards.  The Genesee County Career Centerand twelve other One Stop locations in New York State received a Tandberg 52 inch Interactive Video Conferencing unit, valued at more than forty thousand dollars.  Installation and training occurred in April and six (6) interactive video training sessions have been held to date.  Additionally, the Career Center hosted sixty-seven (67) online customer workshops and staff development webinars featuring our 77 inch SMART Board and supporting laptop computer, purchased through a previous grant from NYS Department of Labor.  Utilizing these video conferencing tools provides a low cost alternative to out of county training and allows the Career Center to host regional training sessions for area partners.

The Job Development Bureau participated in eighty (80) on-site employer specific job recruitments at theCareerCenter, an 31% increase from the previous year.  

The Job Development Bureau provided On-the-Job Training funds valued at more than $4,370 to five (5) Genesee County businesses in order to provide skill training to five (5) new workers.  Additionally, two businesses used $6,329 in customized training funds to upgrade the skills for forty-two (42) existing employees.

The Job Development Bureau sponsored 30 individuals to attend occupational classroom training, providing over

$34,053 in financial aid for tuition and books. 

The Summer Youth Program served twenty-eight (28) youth in 2011 (- 32%) at twenty-two (22) worksites (-27%) through out Genesee County.  Seven (7) of the worksites were For-Profit businesses (32%) and fifteen (15) were Non-Profit businesses.  Additionally, the Job Development Bureau assisted five (5) youth to secure unsubsidized jobs for the summer, bringing the total youth served in the 2011 Summer Youth Program to thirty-three (33), a 65% decrease from the previous year program of fifty-one (51) youth.  The reduction resulted from a 11% cut in the WIA Youth funding and end of the federal ARRA Stimulus Summer Youth funding in summer 2010.

The Job Development Bureau continued to provide innovative youth career development programming through the Adolescent Vocational Exploration (AVE) Program. AVEwas a partnership between the Genesee County Youth Bureau and the Genesee County Job Development Bureau, funded through a competitive grant of  $63,600 from the New York State Office of Children and Family Services (OCFS) and $8,870 grant from the GLOW Workforce Investment Board.  The two grants allowed the Job Development Bureau to provide eighteen (18) in-school youth the opportunity to participate in career assessment, career exploration and job placement activities.

The Job Development Bureau continued to provide Fee-For-Service assessment and individualized job development/placement services to NYS VESID and offered local employers Fee-For-Service skill assessment testing for new job applicants.  Revenues from Fee-For -Service employers skill assessment testing increased 53% from the previous year.

The Career Center has increased the number of workshops being offered to the public for no charge from nine (9) to ten (10) during the year.  Our workshops cover the topics of resume writing, interviewing skills, career exploration, networking job club, job applications and cover letters, navigating the civil  service system for jobs, Career Navigator program, job search for those over age 50, basic computer skills and LinkedIn as a job search tool. 

The Career Center also is partnering with the New York State Library Broadband Technology Program through the NIOGA Library System.  This project is providing increased access for our customers to technical support and training in the use of high speed E-services and computer software.  Classes are provided at the Career Center using the SMART Board and the project’s fourteen (14) portable laptops.  Topics include basic computer, email, Facebook, file management for Window 7, internet for job seekers, basic internet, intro to LinkedIn, intro to Twitter, intro to Wikipedia, Gaga for Google, mail merge, Microsoft Access, Microsoft Excel, and Microsoft Word.

The Job Development Bureau hosted one AmeriCorps member over the past year through the Genesee County Youth Bureau, providing a college student the opportunity to experience public service employment.  The Half-Time member earned an Education Award of $2,362.50 that could be applied toward the cost of post-secondary training and a $5,550 living allowance in the form of stipend payments over the period of the assignment.  The member assisted job seekers in the Resource Room to access internet job sites looking for employment, showing them how to use the Career Zone self assessment to determine career interests.  The member also provided one-on-one orientations to Career Center customers, including weekly tours of the Career Center for youth from the Iroquois JobCorps Center, discussing the complete menu of services available at the Career Center for each potential user.  The member mentored in-school youth attending the after-school Adolescent Vocational Exploration (AVE) Program. 

The Job Development Bureau has continued to update our Career Center Web Page.  The Web Page describes the complete menu of services available for all our other partners in the Genesee County Career Center.  Our monthly Calendar of Events continued to be published on our Web Page each month, expanding the number of customers who have access to these valuable job seeking and job keeping services.  The dates of all our free workshops and business recruitments were included on the Calendar.

The Job Development Bureau continued to utilize the weekly WBTA Genesee County Radio Show to promote our programs and services, scheduling six show dates for 2011.

The Job Development Bureau again achieved 100% of our federal and state performance benchmarks and spending requirements.  We also satisfied all program and fiscal monitoring/reporting requirements.

Key 2012 Goals

 Quickly assist unemployed workers with reemployment activities, allowing them to learn new occupational skills when appropriate, to enable them to find new employment during the economic recovery.  Assist area businesses to recruit the skilled workers they require, allowing them to grow with the economy.

Support our job-seeking customers to maximize their successful job retention while working with business to reduce employee turn-over, thereby maintaining a highly skilled and productive workforce.

Continue leadership and collaboration with our local partners at the Genesee County Career Center and continue the development of an enhanced Workforce Development System to bring better service at a lower price to all its customers. Continue our mission to be the premiere One Stop Center in GLOW as well as the State of New York.

Continue to find ways to further increase our success in finding our people meaningful jobs leading to economic self-sufficiency.  Develop alternative transportation methods to maximize employment opportunities in rural areas.

Work with NYS Department of Labor to refine WIA program reports for the One Stop Operating System (OSOS). 

Increase our capability to reconcile the OSOS participant data.  During 2012, we will work to increase the ability to track performance utilizing the OSOS reports. 

Continue to assist local businesses in accessing special funding for training and upgrading their workforce. 

Continue our partnership with schools, training facilities, and other community agencies to prepare our job seekers and emerging youth to be part of our future quality workforce. 

Provide representation on the Genesee County Youth Bureau, Literacy Genesee, Genesee County Business Education Alliance, Genesee County Transportation Coordinating Committee, Inter-Agency Council, GLOW Workforce Investment Board, GLOW Youth Council, Human Services Advisory Committee, Health and Human Services Focus Group, Technology Focus Group, Genesee Community College Perkins Advisory Board, and Chamber of Commerce Business Development Committee.