WHAT'S NEW

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 NYC Transportation 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 NYC Transportation 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. 

Introducing “Pathways to Driving Careers”
In partnership with the NYC Human Resources Administration, Grant Associates has introduced “Pathways to Driving Careers,” a new course for select public assistance recipients in New York City. This 56-hour course educates students about driving career opportunities and then prepares them for a driver’s permit and license, and ultimately, a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) permit.

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 NYC Transportation 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 NYC Transportation 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 NYC Transportation Center Receives Opportunity Award
The Workforce1 NYC Transportation 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 NYC Transportation 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.

New Healthcare Customer Service Training
Grant Associates Rhode Island has launched an innovative new training program to meet the needs of the healthcare industry. Participants learn to provide exceptional customer service skills within the healthcare environment and to deal with the stress of patients who are receiving medical treatment.

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.