June 4, 2004

Contact
Karen Ann McCarthy
Capital Workforce Partners
860.522-1111

Congresswoman Nancy Johnson Celebrates ‘One-Stop Week’

Tour of New Britain CTWorks Career Center highlights benefits to community

New Britain– U.S. Rep. Nancy Johnson today joined local officials and leaders from Capital Workforce Partners in a tour of the local CTWorks One-Stop Career Center that emphasized the career center’s benefits to the local community. During the tour, Johnson met with Ada Santiago, a New Britain resident who received support and training through the center and is now a social service aide with the Human Resource Agency.

Johnsons’ tour was a highlight of “One-Stop Week,” a celebration of this comprehensive resource for job seekers and employers that is available in easily accessible areas across the state. As a private, not-for-profit agency that supports economic development, Capital Workforce Partners administers and coordinates employment and education services to ensure the workforce has the skills needed to be competitive.

The One-Stop Center, a partnership between the state Department of Labor and Capital Workforce Partners, with key support in local communities from adult education and other community partners, offers employment resources, including workshops, case management and occupational skills training. It also offers employers assistance in recruiting, screening and hiring new employees.

“Through the CTWorks One-Stop Career Centers and other workforce development programs funds Workforce Partners supports, we are able to have a dramatic and long-term impact on improving the lives of the job seekers we serve,” said  Capital Workforce Partners President and CEO Tom Phillips.

This is evident in the case of Ada Santiago, a social service aide at the Human Resources Agency, who just four years ago was a new immigrant who relied on welfare assistance to support herself and her five children. Through the Jobs First program, Santiago began working with folks at the CTWorks One-Stop Career Center in New Britain where she acquired the knowledge and skills to turn her life around. Today, Santiago is a proud homeowner who not only supports her five children, but continues to demonstrate efficiency, initiative and excellence in her new career.

The Hartford region’s unemployment rate is currently at 5.7 percent, slightly higher than the national average of 5.6 percent. Unemployment has remained steady here; there continue to be many individuals out of work and in need of employment assistance. The Enfield center is an important resource to connect with both the public employment system and work-based training to increase worker skills. 

About Capital Workforce Partners

Capital Workforce Partners is a private, non-profit organization that designs and manages a growing variety of workforce development programs. The CWP board has more than 80 members who work in the private, civic and public sectors in 37 cities and towns in North Central Connecticut.