For Immediate Release

 

Date:                 October 16, 2007

Contact:             Office of Government, Policy and Public Relations

Phone:              (303) 318-8004

Fax:                  (303) 318-8070

Web:                 http://www.coworkforce.com/sjh/

 

 

Elizabeth Business is Honored as
Governor’s Summer Job Hunt Program Wraps Up 27th Year

 

 

(DENVER) – With school back in session and the weather getting cooler, summer has come to its inevitable end.  And with the end of the season comes the conclusion of the 2007 Governor’s Summer Job Hunt.  Every year since its inception in 1981, the program has promoted successful entry into the workforce through education and workplace experience that leads to self-sufficiency.

 

“This year, Workforce Centers across Colorado provided thousands of young people with assistance in résumé writing, interviewing skills, and job-search strategies,” says Department of Labor and Employment Executive Director Donald J. Mares.  “They connected thousands more with summer jobs thanks to community-minded businesses.  Every employer who hired a young person this summer was working in collaboration with our schools to build and strengthen our future workforce.”

 

This year, Workforce Centers awarded several employers with the Reach For The Stars Award.  The award is a special recognition given to employers who went “above and beyond” in helping teens expand their basic workplace skills.  The Workforce Center in Elizabeth, Colorado recognized A & A Trading Post / Ace Hardware for its long standing commitment to helping youth.

 

The Elizabeth office is one of Colorado’s newest Workforce Centers, having only been open since January of 2004.  But in the last four years, A & A Trading Post / Ace Hardware has worked closely with the Workforce Center.  The company is a big supporter of the Governor’s Summer Job Hunt and has hired many teens over the past three summers.

 

Teens who are hired by A&A Trading Post / Ace Hardware get a full training experience.  The youth who were hired by the company last summer were provided with two mentors.  One taught them about customer service and the other showed them how to work a forklift and other equipment.  The teens learn every day they are on the job and the company encourages them to return year after year while they are in school.  Several of their full-time permanent employees started with them through the Summer Job Hunt program.

 

“The Governor’s Summer Job Hunt offers more than job opportunities,” says Cynthia Rears of the Elizabeth Workforce Center.  “It gives them the tools and self-confidence to be successful.”  And although the program’s twenty-seventh year has come to a close, the services are provided year round.  Workforce Centers offer workshops and counseling in résumé writing, interviewing skills and job search strategies to help young people gain a competitive edge in their job hunt.

 

 

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