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Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn Open Newly-Renovated Workforce1 Career Center and NYC Business Solutions Center
From left to right: Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall, Deputy Mayor
Dennis Walcott, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Mayor Bloomberg, State Senator Malcolm Smith and Commissioner Robert Walsh
August 2008 - On April 25, Mayor Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Commissioner Robert Walsh, Queens Borough President Helen M. Marshall, State Senator Malcolm Smith and Council members Leroy Comrie, Jr., and Tom White, Jr. officially opened the newly-renovated Workforce1 Career Center and NYC Business Solutions Center at 168-25 Jamaica Avenue in Queens. The renovated Center in Jamaica offers additional training and recruitment rooms and computer stations and a revamped communications system.
The $1.5 million expansion, paid for with federal Workforce Investment Act funds, increases the Center’s training and recruitment rooms from three to seven, adds space to the two computer training rooms, and increases the number of computer stations for customer use from 20 to about 60.
The number of job placements secured through the Jamaica Center has risen from an average of 236 per quarter in 2004, to a record 905 last year. In the first quarter of 2008, 931 job placements were secured. The unemployment rate in Queens has decreased from 6.9% in 2003 to 4.2% today. Since the City’s Department of Employment merged with SBS in 2003, we have increased the number of job placements from 500 per year to more than 16,000 per year by focusing on the hiring needs of local businesses. By focusing on customer service, creating a professional environment, selecting outstanding partners and holding them accountable, we have created value for businesses and are placing more New Yorkers in jobs than ever before. This renovated Workforce1 Career Center and NYC Business Solutions Center gives us the infrastructure to help local businesses find the employees they need and help New Yorkers access quality assistance identifying and preparing for jobs in high growth industries.
To achieve higher rates of job placement, SBS has also created quarterly goals and reviews for its partners; implemented incentives for the sharing of information between career centers; introduced technology to share information about work orders and jobseekers between centers; and instituted programs whereby partners evaluate and share best practices with each other. The model created by SBS has been studied by delegations from Boston, Chicago, Denmark, London, the Netherlands and the World Bank.
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