|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
JOTF E-Newsletter The Job Opportunities Task Force (JOTF) is pleased to bring you the latest edition of its electronic newsletter. The JOTF E-Newsletter includes news, announcements, and information about upcoming events in the Baltimore area that we hope will be of interest to you. If your organization would like to publicize an event, job announcement, or other information, please e-mail: info@jotf.org. In this issue: • Jason Perkins-Cohen
Hired as New Executive Director
OTHER NEWS • The
Baltimore Sun: "Time to end secrecy over
corporate welfare in Md."
• St. Vincent de Paul's Outreach Centers Organize Southeast Baltimore "Christmas Fiesta 2004"
OPPORTUNITIES • Caroline Center Seeks Associate
Director
JOTF NEWS
Jason Perkins-Cohen to Begin as JOTF Executive Director in Feb. 2005 JOTF is pleased to announce Jason Perkins-Cohen has been hired as executive director of JOTF. Jason will begin working at JOTF on February 2, 2005. If you wish to contact JOTF in the interim, please do so by calling our main number, (410) 234-8040, or by sending e-mail to info@jotf.org. For the past seven years, Jason managed the District
of Columbia's Welfare-to-Work program. By developing policies and programs
that meet the employment-related challenges of low-skill, low-income individuals,
he developed a reputation as an effective manager and advocate. He also
worked closely and effectively with businesses, community groups, and
public agencies. Jason replaces outgoing executive director Deborah Povich, who moved to Virginia at the end of 2004.
The Baltimore Sun: "Reading, writing and staying alive" Writing in response to Kelly Brewington's article about the Working Hard, Falling Short report, Baltimore Sun columnist C. Fraser Smith comments that "if there's any hope at all of competing with the drug trade for young people in the city, more money has to be spent on training" and adult education. Increasing funding for training and adult education will strengthen Maryland's economy and provide young adults with greater opportunities for legitimate employment, he says. Smith's column highlights the work of the Learning Bank of COIL, a west Baltimore provider of literacy and computer training services. Learning Bank director Dolores Bramer is a member of the JOTF Public Policy Committee. Read "Reading, writing and staying alive"
The Baltimore Sun: "Report exposes state's education gap" Baltimore Sun staff writer Kelly Brewington reports on the findings of a national report that points to Maryland's need for increased adult education funding for low-income adults. The report, Working Hard, Falling Short, was the result of the national Working Poor Families Project, in which JOTF has participated over the past year and a half. Working Hard, Falling Short "shows that while Maryland has the nation's second-highest percentage of college-educated adults, 16 percent of residents lack a high school diploma," Brewington reports. JOTF executive director Deborah Povich adds that Maryland "'has consistently underfunded adult-education programs in favor of programs that invest in high-skill jobs.'" Read "Report
exposes state's education gap"
The Baltimore Sun: "Shortchanging adult learners" In a November 26 editorial that spotlighted the Working Poor Families report, the Baltimore Sun remarked that "more than one out of four working families in America earns so little that it has trouble making ends meet." The editorial goes on to say that while adult education and training are crucial to increasing the economic opportunities of low-income adults, Maryland "helps only 25 percent of unemployed adults receive additional job training," and "the state's adult education programs are serving only 5 percent of the 613,000 residents who need a high school diploma." Read "Shortchanging
adult learners"
OTHER NEWS
The Baltimore Sun: "Time to end secrecy over corporate welfare in Md." JOTF has been a staunch advocate for public accountability on the part of state agencies for the economic development incentives they provide. Baltimore Sun business columnist Jay Hancock writes that the public has little knowledge of how the state's economic development money is spent and whether or not the state's economic development programs and tax incentives are effective. Last year Sen. Gloria G. Lawlah of Prince George's County introduced a bill which will increase public accountability for economic development incentives. Read "Time to end secrecy over corporate welfare in Md."
The Daily Record: "3,163
jobs tied to med-mal" According to a recent report released by the Maryland Hospital Association, Maryland could lose 3,163 new jobs, 14,409 current jobs, and $105.3 million in household income due to the rising cost of medical malpractice insurance. "At the root of the crisis is a spike in jury verdicts, which, in turn, has pushed up the amount insurers pay on claims, said economist Anirban Basu, chairman and CEO of Sage Policy Group and the study’s author." Read "3,163 jobs tied to med-mal"
The Daily Record on Worker Shortages, Workforce Development The Governor's Workforce Investment Board is leading an effort to determine how to fill expected gaps in Maryland's workforce as baby boomers retire over the next three to five years. The anticipated worker shortage will require new, employer-focused approaches to workforce development. "That means tying the needs of the state’s vital businesses to the skills that are taught to job seekers," the article reports. Read "State reaches to business to find, fill looming employment gaps"
The Baltimore Sun: "Manufacturing jobs fade, taking promise of good life" As manufacturing jobs continue to disappear from Baltimore so does the "life that was promised by those jobs - the quality pay, the good benefits, the comfortable retirement." Former factory workers are often forced to turn to service-sector jobs with little security and low wages. According to the city's planning director "there are still jobs... there are different types of jobs." Read "Manufacturing jobs fade, taking promise of good life"
UPCOMING EVENTS
St. Vincent de Paul's Outreach Centers Organize Southeast Baltimore "Christmas Fiesta 2004" On December 22, 2004, St. Vincent de Paul's Beans & Bread Outreach Center and St. Michael Outreach Center will hold a daylong holiday event for over 300 low-income households and homeless persons of Southeast Baltimore in the St. Michael's Bingo Hall. St. Michael's and Beans & Bread are asking for new, unwrapped gift donations, and are also seeking volunteers. To see how you can help, please contact: Sue Elias, Beans & Bread Outreach Center, 410-732-1892, x111, selias@bbfoh.org; or Akeisha Carraway, St. Michael Outreach Center, 410-732-2176, akeishacarraway@msn.com.
OPPORTUNITIES
Caroline Center Seeks Associate Director Caroline Center is seeking an Associate Director to be responsible for the daily operational activities of the center. This includes program design, implementation, and evaluation, as well as working with employers and alumnae to assure employment placement and retention of trainees. Send inquiries, resume and cover letter to: Pat McLaughlin, SSND, Caroline Center, 900 Somerset St., Baltimore, MD 21202, 410-563-1303 x 14, 410-563-1302 (FAX), pamclaughlin@covad.net
New Voices Fellowship Program 2005 The New Voices National Fellowship Program is a capacity-building and leadership development grant program that assists nonprofit organizations and professionals entering fields related to human rights and social justice. Applications are due Jan. 10, 2005. Visit http://newvoices.aed.org/home.html for more information.
Public/Private Ventures Announces "Workforce Leaders Academy" Public/Private Ventures is pleased to announce the creation
of the "Workforce Leaders Academy" in New York City. A combination
of retreats, seminars and action-based projects, the Academy will help
workforce development leaders gain skills to operate more effective programs
and serve as credible spokespeople for the field. Applications for the
Newsletter Co-Editors: Kevin Griffin Moreno and Larry Schugam If you would like to unsubscribe from the JOTF E-Newsletter, send e-mail to info@jotf.org.
|
 |
|
| Copyright
© 2004 Job Opportunities Task Force. All rights reserved. 207 East Redwood Street, Suite 1000, Baltimore, MD 21202 | (410) 234-8046 | (410) 234-8929 | info@jotf.org Privacy Statement | Site design and development by Velir Studios |
