Collaborative to link job seekers with employers is restarted

By: Richard Craver | Winston-Salem Journal
Published: December 17, 2009

Local civic, educational and work-force agencies today revived a collaborative initiative for connecting job seekers with employers via the Internet.

WinstonWorks features the involvement of 14 groups, including the city of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, Forsyth Technical Community College, the local office of the N.C. Employment Security Commission and the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.

The goal is the same as when WinstonWorks was conceived in 2003 — encouraging and assisting local employers to consider adding at least one job to their work force in the next year.

Both efforts gained their sense of urgency from major job cuts in the local community — including R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Wachovia Corp. in 2003 and Reynolds, Dell Inc. and Pace Airlines Inc. this year.

The relaunching of the effort also comes at a time when the Triad unemployment rate was 11.1 percent in October, and the Forsyth rate was 9.6 percent.

WinstonWorks supporters said that the group already has received commitments for the creation of more than 100 jobs and internships.

Jobs generated from the WinstonWorks effort can be found at www.ncesc.com by clicking on the "find a job" listing. There is a link to the commission's Web site at www.winstonworks.org.

There also are links for education and training information for job-seekers, and information on how to start a small business and resources available for business development.

"We see this effort as a tangible way to help employers create jobs," said Gayle Anderson, the president and chief executive of the Winston-Salem chamber. "There are many resources in the community that can assist employers and help offset costs."

The consortium has plans for events, training seminars and outreach in 2010.

Other groups represented are CHANGE, Consumer Credit Counseling, The Enrichment Center, ESR/IMPACT Program, Goodwill Industries of Northwest N.C., Northwest Piedmont Workforce Development Board, Professionals in Transition, Vocational Rehabilitation and Winston-Salem Urban League.