Client Lands Dream Job Following Makeover

IN THIS ISSUE 2 4

COMMUNITY COORDINATOR REPORT

Tehama County

April through June, 2013

Economic Development News Workforce One On the Go

JTC Welcomes New Controller 3

Tehama County Unemployment: February: 13.3% / April: 11.8% California Unemployment: February: 9.7% / April 9.0%

Seeds of Opportunity: Economic Forecast Event

The Job Training Center organized and co-sponsored the sixth annual

Seeds of Opportunity Economic Forecast event Tuesday, April 23rd at

Rolling Hills Casino in Corning. The event featured an update on the

Tehama Country Branding Project, as well as presentations by Dr.

Robert Eyler of Sonoma State and Futurist Garry Golden from New York.

Golden, who speaks to audiences around the world, coached attendees

on how to tap their inner futurist and learn to better anticipate and lead

change in their local communities. He shared ways to better approach

emerging trends and issues likely to shape life across Tehama County

and beyond.

Pictured: Kathy Sarmiento discusses the branding project.

Dr. Eyler has presented at this event in past. He is a Professor of Economics and the Director of the

Executive MBA Program at Sonoma State. He focused on global and national economic issues and trends;

connecting Tehama County to the North Valley and California overall; the local labor and housing market

issues; and opportunities for Tehama County through 2020.

Kathy Sarmiento, CEO of the Job Training Center and a member of the Tehama Country Brand Leadership

Team, presented twenty recommendations for further developing Tehama County as a visitor destination.

The project is now in Phase II: Product Development.

Presentations were also made on Manton’s recovery from the fires; Corning’s exciting new park; Los

Molinos infrastructure improvements and the new Tehama Country Visitors Center slated to open May 24th

in Red Bluff. The event was sponsored by the Job Training Center, Tehama EDC, Rolling Hills Casino, the Red

Bluff Daily News, Cornerstone Bank, St. Elizabeth Community Hospital, the Tehama Country Visitors Center

and the Corning, Los Molinos and Red Bluff/Tehama County Chambers of Commerce.

5 Community At Work Fire Near Downtown Red Bluff

Job Training Center Welcomes New Controller

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The Landscape Horticulture class, one of the new vocational courses now offered

through the Job Training Center, recently installed a sprinkler system for the

Sacramento River Discovery Center, a local watershed education facility in Red

Bluff.

The class was assisted by the Sherriff’s Department work crew under the direction

of James Mossman, Supervising Community Corrections Counselor. The class and

crew created two watering zones, each equipped with 6 sprinklers and 5 futures

where sprinklers may be added, if needed.

The inmate work crew hand dug 320’ of 12’ deep trenches, installed the sprinkler

system and backfilled the trenches. Jimmy Burgess, Crew Supervisor/Trainer,

worked side by side with the inmates and taught four of them how to cut, fit and

glue PVC pipe for installation.

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Update: Retail/Hospitality Vocational Training

After over five months of life without an in house controller, Holly Spaner joined the Job Training

Center on April 8th. Holly grew up in a small farm town in Ohio and moved to Washington, D.C. to

attend college. She graduated with a double major in International Business and Accounting from

The American University. She has worked for the past 20 years for various industries, but mainly

with non-profit organizations. Her professional background includes a skilled nursing facility, a

religious order managing healthcare and social programs, and association management experience

with variety of trade and professional associations.

She moved from Maryland in April to begin working for the Job Training Center and hasn’t regretted

her decision. She states, “I love everything about my new position; the high level of dedication and commitment of the staff to serving the

community, the professional and friendly environment, and how everyone has welcomed me with open arms. I immediately felt like part

of the Job Training Center’s family.” In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, cooking, baking, and reading. She

is looking forward to taking advantage of all the recreational activities that Tehama County offers.

The Retail/Hospitality Vocational Training Class, one of several new vocational courses offered through the Job Training Center, has been in

progress for the past few months. The participants have been involved in a variety of activities to help prepare them for a career in the

Retail/Hospitality/Customer Service field. They job shadowed employees of AM/PM, Holiday Inn Express, Girls With Guns and Main Street

Treasures.

The participants also attended presentations on marketing, merchandising and window displays provided by the owners of Discover Earth,

Enjoy The Store and the California Kitchen & Company. The partnership with local businesses has allowed the participants to learn

“hands-on” about the daily activities necessary to run small and large operations. Each participant attended courses and received

certifications for safe food handling and sexual harassment prevention.

Update: Landscape Horticulture Vocational Training

Client Lands Dream Job Weeks After Complete Job Ready Makeover

It is no surprise to any of us that rebounding from career disruption is no piece of cake. It often requires patience, perseverance and often a bit of help. When Erika came to the Job Training Center she was in a state of crisis. As an X-ray tech and Medical Assistant with 15+ years’ experience and exceptional references, she never thought she would have trouble finding employment. When she moved to the area from Humboldt County to be closer to her family, it was a new adventure filled with promise. After a few months of constant job search, applications, and in-person visits, her funds were running low and so were her spirits. That’s when she discovered the Job Training Center. She came into the Career Center and staff immediately referred her to a Case Manager.

Erika was brought in for a full skills assessment and resume development. A job search action plan was created, along with interview preparation and a mock interview where she highlighted her excellent communication skills. She was still beating the street and although securing interviews, she was still having no luck landing that ideal job. Having moved from Humboldt where the professional job seeker appearance standards are a little more re-laxed, her Case Manager Demetra Jones, set out to give her a complete “job ready” makeover. As you can see from the before and after photos it was quite a transformation. Upon completion of her makeover, Erika landed an initial interview, which led to two more follow-up interviews and eventually a job offer. Erika is now the Back Office Manager for Allergy Associates of Chico where she works full-time, 40 hours per week earning $25 per hour! Erika is exceedingly thankful for all the help and support she received from the Job Training Center. She is so excited about her new job and is happy to share her experience. *This story is shared with permission of the client named above.

Business Services

Recruitments...

Alternatives to Vio-lence, AM/PM, Atlas Systems, Bickley’s Heating & Air Conditioning, Big 5 Sporting Goods, Brentwood Nursing Facility, Carlito’s Mexican Restaurant, Chicken Charlie’s, City of Red Bluff, CLP Resources, Comfort Inn, COMPASS, Corning Union Ele-mentary School District, Crain Walnut Shelling, Dependable Services, Dig Construc-tion, E & E Foods, Elks Lodge, Elmore’s Phar-macy, Environmental Alternatives, Experience Works, Express Employment Professionals, Farmers Insurance, Foothill Ready Mix, Ger-ney Landscaping, Glamorous Beauty Salon, Hampton Inn & Suites, Hampton Inn, Heitman Drilling, Holiday Inn Express Corning, Holiday Inn Express Red Bluff, Holiday Inn Express Willows, Home Depot, Johns Manville, Kim-ball Crossings, Land O’ Lakes, Lariat Bowl, Lassen Mineral Lodge, Lighthouse Living Ser-vices, Lincare, Louisiana Pacific, Luevano Trucking, MAXIMUS, Maywood Farms, Melis-sa’s Daycare, Mendocino National Forest, Motel 6, Mt. Lassen Transportation, Nely’s Beauty Salon, NoRTEC, North Valley Nut, North Valley Services, Pneumatic Conveying and Manufacturing Puckett Residential, Quali-ty Safety & Fire, Red Bluff Cemetery District, Red Bluff Chamber of Commerce, Red Bluff Health and Fitness, Rite Aid Corning, Rolling Hills Casino, Rolling Hills Clinic, Second Chance Pet Rescue, Rush Personnel, SERRF, Shasta Livestock, Sierra Pacific Millworks, Si-erra Pacific Richfield, Stacy Cullum OD, Stony Brook Residential, Sugar Shack, Sunplay Pools, Tehama County Department of Education, Tehama County Department of Social Ser-vices, Tehama Family Fitness Center, Vintage Rose

03 PAGE

This Spring, the Dollar General opened two Stores in Red Bluff. The Market store opened its doors to the public on April 19th and the smaller retail store opened June 24th.

Spring Hiring Events Infuse Energy in the Career Center

Since January, the Job Training Center has continued to invite local

employers with current openings to well publicized hiring events at the

career center. The events typically last several hours, and offer the owner or

hiring manager the opportunity to share about the culture and history of the

company and answer questions before sitting down to conduct interviews. The

events bring new people into the career center and create a buzz of excitement.

Over the past several months E&E Foods, Home Depot, SERRF (after school

program) and the Lassen Mineral Lodge have held hiring events.

Who’s About Town

Kathy Sarmiento presented

on the Tehama County Branding Project to the

Corning City Council on June25th.

Kathy Garcia and Rolling Hills Casino Director

of Marketing Kate Grissom spoke to over 40

Retired Teachers on April 8 in Corning and

travelled to Susanville May 16 to speak to over

60 school board members about Expect More

Tehama. Lassen County has a higher education

initiative called Lassen Peaks.

Janet Blackketter and Kathy Garcia continue

to take turns every other month, hosting job

search and customer service workshops at

Juvenile Hall.

Michelle Clement, Skye Lown, Kathy Garcia

were joined by Nevada County’s Christine

Hoxsie in Sacramento May 8 & 9 for a California

Chamber of Commerce HR Bootcamp and

several tours of area career centers.

Dollar General hosted their new employee

orientation at the Job Training Center on

May 4th.

Tehama County Employer Advisory Council

member Michelle Clement helped host

several sessions at the JTC including CalOSHA;

Unemployment Insurance; and USERRA /

Understanding Military Leaves.

Demetra Jones travelled to San Diego to

attend a Career Coaching Workshop where

she received her American Society for Training

& Development (ASTD) Coaching Certificate.

Connie Ocampo and Kathy Garcia participated

on the College & Career Planning Workgroup,

one of three workgroups helping to identify

needs and direction for the President’s

Promise Neighborhood Planning Grant.

In May, Carrie Ferchaud and

Nevada County’s Alice

Johnson attended the ASTD

International Conference in

Dallas, TX where more than

9,000 attended from over 80

countries. One of the

highlights of the conference

was the keynote speaker, Sir Ken Robinson

(above), who spoke of the uniqueness of every

individual and the importance of creating

circumstances in which people can flourish,

discover their talents and make them grow.

04 PAGE

Historically healthcare providers

in both Tehama County and the

Truckee/Tahoe region have

struggled to meet the rising

demand for an English and

Spanish speaking staff, an issue

compounded by the upward

demographic shift of Hispanic and

Latino residents in both areas. To

meet this workforce need, the Job

Training Center enrolled 33

bilingual individuals for Medical

Office Assistant and Clinical

Medical Assistant training.

Local Healthcare providers in both

areas are elated to have Job

Training Center’s support in

meeting their staffing needs and

have demonstrated a high level of collaboration and anticipation for the training

completion day.

The training is progressing well and will wrap up next quarter. The students will earn a

certificate and take the state exam. They will also be connected with

businesses for assistance with internships, on the job training and job placement.

Bilingual Medical Office Assistant Training Begins in April

Economic Development News….

Newly Opened:

Enjoy the Store—Main Street

Dollar General—Antelope Boulevard

Dollar General—Walnut and Jackson Street

Coming Soon to Red Bluff: Tehama Country Visitor’s Center The Green Room (Art Studio) Razzilicious Frozen Yogurt

New Park Being Constructed in Corning

Corning’s new park is progressing at a very rapid rate. The construction of the gazebo is complete and the contractor, Trent Construction from Gerber has brought in specialized employees from Oregon to work on the skate/bike park which is starting to take shape with the bowls and ramps about 50% complete. The park should be complete and ready to open sometime in November on a limited basis. Staff are in the initial steps of designing Phase 2 and construction will be begin in the spring of 2014.

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05 PAGE

Vocational Student Shows Landscape Talent

Landscape Horticulture student Alan Stout worked with

Supervisor Jimmy Burgess to design and plant all new

flowers in the North and South planters in front of the Job

Training Center. The student also initiated his own project

of landscaping and planting new flowers around the

Christmas Tree on Pine Street.

Community At Work...

Book Drive

New Transportation

for a client

JTC Chili Cook-Off in April!

Fire Near Downtown Red Bluff

In the early afternoon of Monday, June 3rd a large fire

broke out near Sale Lane and Antelope Blvd in Red Bluff.

The fire destroyed 102 acres around the East Sand Slough

between Sale Lane and Interstate 5. The Antelope Blvd exit

was closed down for over two hours . The fire forced

evacuations and damaged the Best Western Hotel, Rocking

R Restaurant and an apartment complex. Fortunately there

were no injuries. It was later discovered that the fire was

started by two young children from out of state, staying at a

nearby mobile home park. Cal Fire spokesman Kevin

Colburn stated the children admitted to starting the fire

while playing with a lighter.

Photo by Red Bluff Daily News