Reviving an Internet connection for job-hunters and employers may appear to be the equivalent of applying a Band-Aid to a bleeding local economy.
But the organizers of WinstonWorks say they hope that its Web site -- www.winstonworks.org -- can serve as a clearinghouse for employment information and offer encouragement, in particular to small businesses.
"We believe this Web site -- and the involvement of these groups -- can help tip the scale for employers needing to hire but who feel they are not ready or able to take the risk," said Gayle Anderson, the president and chief executive of the Greater Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.
WinstonWorks is made up of 14 civic, educational and employment agencies, including the city of Winston-Salem, Forsyth County, Forsyth Technical Community College, the local office of the N.C. Employment Security Commission and the chamber.
The goal is the same as when WinstonWorks was conceived in 2003 -- encouraging and assisting about 8,500 local employers to add at least one job in the next year.
Both efforts gained a sense of urgency after major job cuts, including those at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Wachovia Corp. in 2003 or Reynolds, Dell Inc. and Pace Airlines Inc. this year.
The restart also comes at a time of 11.1 percent unemployment in the Triad and 9.6 percent in Forsyth County in October.
Mayor Allen Joines said that such efforts as WinstonWorks are necessary to help provide transitional support for those looking for work.
"We're always adding jobs, unfortunately sometimes losing jobs, adding employers, seeing employers close down,'' Joines said. "You've always got to have a strong economic-development program to replace jobs."
Joines said that the city will continue economic-development efforts to attract and retain employers, potentially using incentive money regained from Dell.
"But adding one, two or three jobs at a time, from the thousands of employers in our community, is the way we're going to chip away at the need," he said.
WinstonWorks has already received commitments for the creation of more than 100 jobs and internships from such companies as Bald Eagle Technologies, I.L. Long Construction Co. Inc. and the YMCA of Northwest North Carolina for its new branch off Robinhood Road.
Jobs generated by the WinstonWorks effort can be found at www.ncesc.com by clicking on the "find a job" listing. There also are links for education and training information for job-hunters, information on how to start a small business, and resources available for business development.
"The 2003 effort was mostly a local Monster.com effort," Anderson said. "We see this effort as a tangible way to help employers create jobs."
Organizers said they anticipate some people questioning the revival of the Web site given that many local employers require online job applications to reduce costs and filter candidates.
"You would be surprised at the number of people who don't know where to look for a job or post a resume," said Archie Hicks, the manger of the employment-security commission's office in Winston-Salem. "Some haven't had to look for a job in a long time. Some employers are not aware of the resources and money available to them for training to help lower the cost of making a hire."
The Web site will help show that there are more local job openings than most people realize, said Althea Hairston, the director of the Northwest Piedmont Workforce Development Board.
Yesterday, there were 97 job postings at Triad JobNet on the chamber's Web site, as well as nearly 200 for Forsyth on the commission's Web site.
Other groups participating in WinstonWorks are CHANGE, Consumer Credit Counseling, The Enrichment Center, ESR/IMPACT Program, Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina, Professionals in Transition, Vocational Rehabilitation and Winston-Salem Urban League.
rcraver@wsjournal.com.
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