密歇根新闻广播 密歇根为就业开创了新项目,或可成美国先例

 

When the housing crisis hit in the mid-2000s, millions lost their jobs. Licensed¹ home builder and Saginaw resident Jeff Little was one of them.

Jeff lost his job in 2006, and soon his wife was unemployed² as well. Struggling to make ends meet every month, he became self-employed and worked on and off while searching for a full-time³ job.

For eight years, his efforts to land steady employment were unsuccessful until he got involved in an innovative⁴ public-private partnership⁵ developed to help create long-term career opportunities.

Community Ventures, launched in October 2012 by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC), helps eligible⁶ “structurally⁷ unemployed” people living in Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, and Saginaw pursue career opportunities at Michigan companies.

The program focuses on people with extended joblessness, low income, disability, limited education, or past incarceration⁸.

The goal is to place 1,000 structurally unemployed into stable jobs every year.

To get there, the Community Ventures Team works cooperatively with local community and talent partners like Goodwill⁹ Industries, Jewish Vocational Services (JVS), Michigan Department of Human Services, Saginaw Business and Education Partnership, Detroit Employment Solutions, and others to find and screen eligible candidates.

A connection is then made with participating employers, recruited by Community Ventures and MEDC, who commit to providing full-time (at least 30 hours) long-term positions that pay living wages. In order to minimize the hiring risk, businesses receive a stipend¹⁰ for each participant to pay for on-the-job training.

As part of the program, local partners provide extensive post-employment support services like job coaching, transportation, workforce¹¹ readiness, child care, and adult education, depending on each participant's needs.

Last year, Jeff landed his first full-time job in nearly a decade.

Working with the Saginaw Business and Education Partnership, Jeff was identified as a good Community Ventures program candidate and was hired at Nexteer Automotive, a Saginaw-based automotive supplier.

More conventional workforce programs have focused on skills training that often doesn't support the local employers' immediate¹² needs.

In Michigan, through Community Ventures, we have flipped¹³ that around by working directly with employers to ensure that participants gain high-demand skills and real jobs - jobs that set people on a sustainable path to independence.

It's working. Nearly two-and-a-half years into the program, Community Ventures has placed more than 3,500 structurally unemployed people into long-term employment with more than 150 companies.

This unique Michigan model could one day serve as a blueprint¹⁴ for a national program.

So what's the Next Idea?

There are about 300,000 people in Michigan who meet the definition of structurally unemployed, and about 16 percent of our population lives at or below the poverty line.

What if, instead of 1,000 people a year in Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, and Saginaw, we targeted 10,000 to 15,000 people across the state? Imagine what would happen to unemployment and poverty in Michigan if 15,000 structurally unemployed people started finding opportunities for themselves.

More conventional workforce programs have focused on skills training that often doesn't support the local employers' immediate needs.

Community Ventures doesn't have to be limited to just four urban areas. It can be expanded into any area where you have people who have chronically¹⁵ struggled to find jobs.

The challenge now is to scale it on a statewide basis.

In his 2016 budget recommendations, Governor Snyder has asked the legislature for $10 million to continue the program in the four target communities. Expanding the program's reach, however, will require additional funding. With state budget priorities and realities as they are, relying on public dollars alone isn't feasible.

We have to look outside the norm.

One area we are looking at engaging is Michigan's philanthropic community. Michigan is home to over 2,200 foundations providing hundreds of millions of dollars in grants every year. We feel that an economic development initiative like Community Ventures that promotes social enterprise would be a good fit for the mission of any number of foundations in the state.

Another avenue we are exploring is social impact bonds. With this model, governments team up with service providers and private sector¹⁶ investors¹⁷ to create and fund innovative social programs. Investors are repaid only when the programs reach specific targets and tax dollar savings¹⁸ are achieved.

A third opportunity we are looking at is crowdfunding. We know that a state-led crowdfunding effort can work. Our Public Spaces Community Places initiative has had tremendous success enabling local residents, businesses and other community stakeholders to use crowdfunding to support the development of strategic projects in their communities and be backed with a matching grant from MEDC.

Today, Jeff Little is a machine operator at Nexteer.

With the help of an onsite "success coach," he is thriving in his new position and has already earned two raises. Little credits Community Ventures as a “total life change,” and getting up and going to work every day and providing for his family has instilled¹⁹ in him a new sense of pride and purpose.

Jeff Little's story is about more than finding a job. It is about an opportunity to change a life for the better.

With innovative thinking, we can take the model that is working to empower people in Detroit, Flint, Pontiac, and Saginaw who previously²⁰ may have lost hope of ever making a living and bring it to other communities across Michigan.

We have an opportunity to help write thousands of similar stories.

Michael Finney is senior advisor²¹ for economic growth for Governor Rick Snyder's administration and the former president and CEO of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

Join the conversation in the comments section below, on Twitter or Facebook, or let us know your Next Idea here.

1 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

2 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。

3 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

6 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

7 structurally   

在结构上

参考例句：

• The house roof was (structurally) unsound. 这屋顶（结构）不牢固。
• Pinhole on shot-hole damage is never structurally significant. 针孔和蛀洞所造成的危害对结构的影响不大。

8 incarceration   

n.监禁，禁闭；钳闭

参考例句：

• He hadn't changed much in his nearly three years of incarceration. 在将近三年的监狱生活中，他变化不大。 来自辞典例句
• Please, please set it free before it bursts from its long incarceration! 请你，请你将这颗心释放出来吧！否则它会因长期的禁闭而爆裂。 来自辞典例句

9 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

10 stipend   

n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金

参考例句：

• The company is going to ajust my stipend from this month onwards.从这一个月开始公司将对我的薪金作调整。
• This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。

11 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

12 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

13 flipped   

轻弹( flip的过去式和过去分词 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• The plane flipped and crashed. 飞机猛地翻转，撞毁了。
• The carter flipped at the horse with his whip. 赶大车的人扬鞭朝着马轻轻地抽打。

14 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

15 chronically   

ad.长期地

参考例句：

• Similarly, any pigment nevus that is chronically irritated should be excised. 同样，凡是经常受慢性刺激的各种色素痣切勿予以切除。
• People chronically exposed to chlorine develop some degree of tolerance. 人长期接触氯气可以产生某种程度的耐受性。

16 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

17 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

18 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

19 instilled   

v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Nature has instilled in our minds an insatiable desire to see truth. 自然给我们心灵注入了永无休止的发现真理的欲望。 来自辞典例句
• I instilled the need for kindness into my children. 我不断向孩子们灌输仁慈的必要。 来自辞典例句

20 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

21 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。