MichiganWorks! is preparing to help young people looking for summer employment that helps pave the way to a career. Here are the details from the multi-faceted job service agency:
Attention young adults ages 14-24 years old! Are you looking for summer work? Michigan Works! Berrien, Cass, Van Buren received a $215,000 grant to provide career readiness and exploration services to young adults in southwest Michigan. One hundred individuals who are out of school and between the ages of 14 and 24 years old from Berrien, Cass, and Van Buren counties will have the opportunity to earn money while they learn.
The Young Professionals is an 18-week program that includes career exploration, job readiness activities, and a 6-week paid work experience. Individuals can expect to go through career skills assessments, career pathway discovery, goal setting, financial literacy, talent tours, career preparation activities, informational interviews, barrier resolution, and paid work experiences.
“This is a big win for young adults, local employers, and our overall communities,” said Ian Gordon, Vice President of Workforce for Michigan Works! Berrien, Cass, Van Buren. “We know that finding work-ready talent is the number one issue facing our local employers and we believe starting with young adults in our community is a solution.”
Programming will primarily be in-person, with some virtual career development, exposing young adults to a broad array of occupations in healthcare, manufacturing, information technology, leisure/hospitality and other core sectors. Enrollment for the first cohort of work experiences is going on now until April 1.
“It’s a win-win,” said Gordon. “Every individual in this program will go through a series of activities and work experiences that bring them one step closer to their goals, while we work hard to remove the barriers that may be limiting their success. Meanwhile, we are working to close the gap for our local employers by supplying work-ready talent.”
Eligible participants can receive assistance in a number of areas, including education, training, transportation, childcare, food insecurities, purchasing work attire, or other items needed for their work experience.
Individuals who would like to sign up are encouraged to apply here by April 1. Want to learn more about the program before signing up? Stop by the Youth Spring Bash on Friday, March 24 from noon to 4:00 pm at the YouthBuild Tech Center in Benton Harbor, located at 315 E. Main Street. Young adults are invited to enjoy music, prizes, free food, virtual reality headsets, basketball, and to learn more about services available to them. Register your spot at the Youth Sprint Bash .
The Young Professionals Program is funded by the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Workforce Development (LEO-WD) to support employment preparation and placement programming for young adults throughout the state.
Michigan Works! of Berrien, Cass, Van specializes in connecting individuals of all ages to education, training, and employment. We work with local businesses to find out what keeps them up at night and help them tackle the most pressing challenges they may face, including attracting and retaining talent. For more information, visit www.miworks.org.
