WHAT'S NEW

Report Highlights Successful Stimulus Program
Grant Associates was featured in a report by the Center for an Urban Future that examines the results of New York City’s nearly $100 million investment in workforce and economic development programs funded through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). In 2010, Grant Associates operated a unique ARRA-funded job placement program called Career Plus that targeted mid-level professionals who had lost employment due to the economic downturn. Working in partnership with the City University of New York, Grant Associates developed a special curriculum for this population that included computer skills, interviewing skills, social networking and personal branding. The report shows that over an eleven-month period, Grant Associates placed 346 individuals into employment at an average hourly wage of $20/hour, nearly twice the average of a traditional Workforce1 Career Center.

Grant Associates to Operate New Expansion Centers
Mayor Bloomberg has announced plans to provide New Yorkers with greater access to the Workforce1 Career Center system by opening new Expansion Centers across the city. Grant Associates was selected to operate four of these centers – one in Midtown Manhattan, one in Queens and two in Brooklyn – and expects to place an additional 3,200 jobseekers through these new access points in the coming year.

Scholars at Work Kicks off Second Year
Scholars at Work will begin its second year on January 31, 2011, with 47 students chosen to participate in the program. Scholars at Work is an innovative collaboration of the NYC Workforce Investment Board, NYC Department of Small Business Services and NYC Department of Education, and is managed by the Workforce1 Transportation Career Center, which is operated by Grant Associates. The program provides high school seniors from New York City Career and Technical Education High School programs with career exploration opportunities, workplace preparation, and 14-week internships within the transportation sector. In addition, full-time job placement services are available to students upon graduation. 

Grant Associates Delivers Services at Brooklyn Workforce1 Career Center
On January 1st, Grant Associates assumed operation of the Brooklyn Workforce1 Career Center, a 20,000 square foot state-of-the art facility, located at 9 Bond Street, that offers no-cost job search resources, workshops, career counseling and job placement assistance to area residents. In its first two weeks, Grant Associates served approximately 2,000 jobseekers and held recruitment events for several major employers, including the MTA.

Grant Associates Studies Partnership Opportunities with Local Colleges
Grant Associates has completed the first phase of a research project that examines how New York City’s colleges can be tapped to fill higher wage professional jobs that our business customers are listing with us. In conducting this study, 23 representatives of 16 two-year, four-year and continuing education programs at public, private and proprietary schools were interviewed. As a next step, Grant Associates will engage several area colleges to discuss ways that the higher education and workforce systems can partner to place graduates and alumni in high level jobs, and simultaneously provide the City’s businesses with the skilled and educated applicants they require.

Philadelphia Program Achieves Important First
Opportunity Calls, Grant Associates’ new customer service/call center training program in Philadelphia, finished its first class on October 29th with a 100% completion rate. In addition, 75% of participants received job offers before the training was even completed. Wells Fargo and Nordstrom were among the companies hiring graduates of the program.

Grant Associates Begins Professional Development Services for NYC Department of Education
Grant Associates recently signed a contract with the NYC Department of Education’s Office of Multiple Pathways to Graduation to provide professional development services to Learning to Work staff. Learning to Work is a career exploration and work readiness program that operates in select Transfer Schools, Young Adult Borough Centers and GED programs for over-age, under-credited youth. Under this contract, Grant Associates will deliver employment-related workshops and intensive one-one-one technical assistance to assist staff on such topics as understanding employer demands, building employer relationships and development employment opportunities for youth.

Manufacturing Center Surpasses Targets
In its first quarter operating the Workforce1 Manufacturing Career Center, Grant Associates has already exceeded placement goals. Among the placements were six CDL Route Sales positions at Pepsi, an account developed jointly with the Workforce1 Transportation Career Center. One of the positions filled by the Manufacturing Center was for a $75,000 Process Engineer placement at S & L Aerospace, representing its highest salary placement to date.

Employment Works Achieves Major Milestones
Employment Works, an employment and training program for probationers, recently completed its first contract term and shattered all expectations. From August 25, 2008 to August 1, 2010, the program placed 1,243 probationers into employment. Of these, a clear majority were in positions that pay $12/hour or more. In addition, 64% of customers retained employment for six months, and 61% of customers obtained their GEDs while participating in the program.

Grant Associates Launches Philadelphia Program
Grant Associates has launched a new customer service/call center training program for TANF customers in Philadelphia. The four-week training covers the essentials of excellent customer service and results in a certification from Rockhurst University that is endorsed by the International Customer Service Association. Once certified, customers are placed into varied customer service positions in retail, hospitality, office and call center environments.

Workforce1 Manufacturing Career Center
On July 1, Grant Associates assumed operation of the Workforce1 Manufacturing Career Center at 177 Livingston Street in Brooklyn. For manufacturing businesses, the center offers a full suite of business services, including recruitment and training. For jobseekers interested in the manufacturing sector, it offers employment services and new skills development. Grant Associates was selected to operate the center based on the sector expertise it developed while operating the Workforce1 Transportation Career Center in Jamaica, Queens. A third sector-based career center, focused on healthcare, is operated by LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City.

Scholars at Work
Scholars at Work Celebrates First Graduating Class New York City Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein kicked off a special event for seventeen graduates of Automotive, Aviation and Transit Tech High Schools on June 15th. In addition to graduating from high school, the students completed the first ever Scholars at Work program, which augments classroom learning with work readiness training and hands-on work experience.

Patricia Brooks Honored by Esther House
On May 22nd, Patricia Brooks, Deputy Director of Grant Associates'
ex-offender programs, was awarded an Outstanding Achievement Award by Esther House, a transitional living program for formerly incarcerated women. Ms. Brooks, who believes that everyone deserves a second chance, was honored for her ongoing commitment to improving the lives of individuals with domestic violence and criminal justice issues in New York City.

New Services in Fulton County, Georgia
Under a contract with the Fulton County Department of Family and Children Services in Georgia, Grant Associates has begun a new program to provide placement and retention services for applicants of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). With the goal helping participants obtain and maintain steady employment so that they can avoid public assistance, Grant Associates will deliver intensive case management, retention, job coaching, and mentoring services in addition to job placement.

Grant Associates Launches Second Stimulus-funded Program
In January, Grant Associates launched Company Connections, an intensive training and job placement program for people with criminal justice histories. Company Connections is designed to help participants achieve multiple outcomes: attainment of a GED of high school diploma; attainment of an industry recognized credential, such as the Commercial Driver’s License (CDL); enrollment in an advanced training program; and unsubsidized employment. Housed at Grant Associates’ Manhattan headquarters, the program will serve 60 Out of School Youth and 180 Adults with American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds from the New York State Department of Labor.

Scholars at Work Begins at Workforce1 Transportation Center
In partnership with the NYC Department of Education and NYC Department of Small Business Services, the Workforce1 Transportation Center has begun a new program for high school seniors from three Career and Technical Education (CTE) Schools: Aviation High School, Automotive High School, and Transit Tech High School. Scholars at Work will provide 30 students with work readiness training and placement into internships at our partner companies in the transportation sector. The program offers employers technically skilled labor, while giving students hands-on work experience to complement their classroom training.

Employment Works Achieves Milestone
As of November 19th, 500 probationers have been placed into productive jobs through the efforts of Employment Works, an intensive employment and personal development program for probationers in Queens. In achieving this milestone, Patricia Brooks, Deputy Director of Employment Works, credits the dedication of her staff and their ability to convince employers that probationers not only offer valuable skills but that they can help companies increase productivity and revenue.

Staffing for the Economic Recovery
Business executives learned about low-risk staffing options at a breakfast sponsored by Grant Associates and NYC Business Solutions on November 16th at the Harvard Club of New York City. Following remarks on New York City’s economic recovery by Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber and Greg David, Editorial Director of Crain’s New York Business, presenters suggested various staffing strategies, including making technology decisions before hiring, testing potential hires through consulting assignments, and engaging staffing agencies. One key highlight was businesses taking advantage of NYC Business Solutions, a suite of services that includes no-cost recruitment and customized training.

Queens Borough President Honors Queens Career Center
Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall declared November 17th “Queens Workforce1 Career Center Day” in acknowledgement of the Center’s “significant contributions to the unemployed and underemployed residents of the Borough of Queens.” A presentation of the official declaration was made at a partner luncheon attended by over 50 partners of the Career Center.

Career Advancement Day Inspires
On November 19th, the Advance at Work team at the Queens Workforce1 Career Center held a special “Career Advancement Day” for Advance at Work customers and their friends and family members. The event featured dynamic motivational speaker Mychal Sledge, who inspired the audience to improve their lives by taking advantage of the training opportunities and job upgrade assistance offered by Advance at Work, a career advancement program at the Center. The audience also enjoyed food and a raffle for five laptop computers.

National Network of Sector Partners Conference Presentation
Doug Cotter, Deputy Director of the Workforce1 Transportation Center, and Megan O’Meara and Tim Pinel of the NYC Department of Small Business Services presented practical applications for using labor market information within sector initiatives at the National Network of Sector Partners Conference, held in Washington, DC from November 10-13. Using lessons learned from operating the Workforce1 Transportation Center, the speakers covered a broad range of topics from staff training to targeted business development. 

Rethinking the Business-Driven Model
On October 20, Dale Grant, President of Grant Associates, and Paula Bailey, Vice President, led a workshop at the 2009 Fall Conference of NYATEP, the New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals, a not-for-profit corporation serving the workforce development community throughout New York State. The workshop, "Rethinking the Business Driven Model," provided workforce professionals with strategies to create opportunities for jobseekers through an intimate knowledge of businesses and their needs.

Supervisory Training Delivered to Transportation Company Employees
Prime Flight Aviation Services, Dickinson Fleet Services and Spirit Airlines are among the latest companies to take advantage of Principles of Supervision, an innovative course designed by the CUNY School of Professional Studies in partnership with the Workforce1 Transportation Career Center and its business partners. Students in this course are employees who demonstrate strong potential for advancement to leadership roles but who lack supervisory experience. This twelve week, three credit course will equip them with the skills they need to function as effective supervisors in the transportation sector. Principles of Supervision is just one of the ways that the Workforce1 Transportation Career Center is aligning its training and education offerings with the needs of the City’s transportation employers.

Grant Associates Recognized by New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce
On September 25th, Grant Associates received the Community Partner Award at the 2009 New York Women of Excellence Awards & Fundraising Breakfast, sponsored by the New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce. Grant Associates was recognized for its efforts to certify Minority- and Women-Owned Business Enterprise companies through the NYC Business Solutions Centers it operates in Queens and the Bronx under contract with the NYC Department of Small Business Services. The award was accepted by Dale Grant, President of Grant Associates.

Stimulus Funding Helps Put New Yorkers Back to Work
With funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, we have launched a new program to help New Yorkers who have been affected by the current economic downturn. Career Plus provides sophisticated career counseling, job placement assistance, workshops and training opportunities for individuals who were recently laid off. Located in Midtown Manhattan, the program specializes in the professional services, information technology and social assistance sectors. 

New Space, Services in Queens
Our program site in Jamaica, Queens has just expanded by 5,000 square feet. This additional space will accommodate new computer resources and will increase employer services capacity for the Queens Workforce1 Career Center and the Workforce1 Transportation Career Center, two programs operated at this location.

Grant Associates Connects Allied Barton with Training Programs
Allied Barton Security Services, the country’s largest American-owned security officer services company, engaged Grant Associates to connect them with government agencies that might be interested in exploring partnerships to provide training. With the goal of reducing Allied Barton’s hiring and training costs, Grant Associates identified available on-the-job and customized training opportunities in 20 major U.S. cities where Allied Barton does business, and then introduced Allied Barton’s regional managers to the appropriate government contacts.

Grant Associates Tapped for Technical Assistance
Grant Associates was recently engaged by two organizations to provide consulting services in New York City. The New York City Department of Education engaged Grant Associates to conduct a series of six professional development workshops for the Department’s contracted Learning to Work providers. The goal of this series is to build the capacity of providers to engage young people in long-term career planning through a deeper understanding of business needs and practices. In addition, drawing upon the expertise it has acquired operating the Workforce1 Transportation Career Center, Grant Associates will provide consulting services to ITAC, the Industrial and Technology Assistance Corporation, as it launches a new sector-based career center focused on the manufacturing sector.

Grant Associates Welcomes CUNY’s Off-Campus College
Grant Associates has opened its doors to the CUNY School of Professional Studies. During evening hours, CUNY runs its Off-Campus College program at Grant Associates’ Manhattan headquarters. The Off-Campus College offers working students access to a college education by providing workplace related, credit-bearing courses and certificates. Sharing space helps support deeper collaboration between the two organizations.

Queens Career Center Chosen for International Workforce Summit
On June 26, government officials and policy makers from 27 international cities visited the Queens Workforce1 Career Center, the culminating event of the three-day "Job Creation and Workforce Development Summit." Following a full schedule of panels and workshops on workforce development issues, the Career Center tour allowed participants to see best practices put in action. The summit was sponsored by New York City Global Partners, Columbia University and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Local Economic and Employment Development Programme.

NYC Business Solutions Transportation Sponsors JFK Chamber Event
NYC Business Solutions Transportation sponsored the May 19th luncheon of the JFK Airport Chamber of Commerce. Because of our close collaboration with Robert C. Lieber, NYC Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, he agreed to deliver the keynote speech. The Deputy Mayor addressed important economic development issues affecting JFK Airport stakeholders and the Jamaica, Queens community.

John Fitzpatrick, President of Vaughn College of Aeronautics & Technology, and Doug Cotter, Deputy Director of NYC Business Solutions Transportation, at the JFK Chamber luncheon.

Workforce1 Transportation Career Center Receives Opportunity Award
The Workforce1 Transportation Career Center, which is operated by Grant Associates under a contract with the NYC Department of Small Business Services, received a Workforce Development Opportunity Award from the NYC Employment & Training Coalition, a consortium of 200 workforce development organizations in New York City. The Workforce1 Transportation Career Center was recognized for the many strong relationships it has built with employers in the transportation sector.

NYC Business Solutions, Queens Center Honors Partners and Business Customers
At its Customer Awards Dinner on March 25, awards were presented to community partners: The Queens Borough President’s Office; Queens Chamber of Commerce; New York Women’s Chamber of Commerce; Flushing BID; Greater Jamaica Development Corporation; Accion USA; Lower East Side People’s Federal Credit Union; Grameen America; Project Enterprise; LaGuardia Community College SBDC; and York College SBDC. Business customers received awards for implementing NYC Business Solutions services in innovative ways: Lockman Inc. for the NYC Business Solutions Training Fund Award; First Choice Mechanical for the M/WBE Procurement Award; ASIG for the Hiring Award; L.C. Beautician Corp. for the Financing Award and The Catch Restaurant for the Multiple Services Award. In addition, three companies – Nadia Nour, Yukiko Sato New York, and IQ Panda Child Care, Inc. – received awards for submitting the best business plans under a business plan competition sponsored by the Center.

Extended Hours at the Queens Workforce1 Career Center
As part of Mayor Bloomberg’s efforts to help New Yorkers get through the current economic downturn, New York City’s Workforce1 Career Centers are now open extended hours. The Queens Workforce1 Career Center, located in Jamaica and operated by Grant Associates, is now open until 8:00 PM on Tuesdays, Wednesday s and Thursdays, and from 10:00 AM until 3:00 PM on alternate Saturdays.

Grant Associates Operated Business Services Now Offered in Bronx
Under a new contract with the NYC Department of Small Business Services, Grant Associates began operating the NYC Business Solutions, Bronx Center in December. Like the Queens Center, operated by Grant, the Bronx Center provides small businesses and entrepreneurs with business classes and assistance in business planning, financing, hiring, training, regulations, incentives, procurement, and more. NYC Business Solutions, Bronx Center is located at 358 East 149thStreet, Lower Level, and is open to current and aspiring business owners in need of assistance.

Leadership Committee of NYC Business Solutions Transportation Targets Career Pathways
At its January 21 meeting, business, education and economic development representative on the Committee identified educational demands for advancement in the transportation sector.