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The 2010 Job Fair in Chester was a success. Chester was the first of the three job fairs this year, and the employer and job seeker turnout was impressive. With 16 companies and organizations represented, job seekers showed up with resumes at the ready for a 2-hour event that by all accounts was very productive. The Workforce Development Team members received several compliments for the organization and time that went into making the Fair a worthwhile event. While we do not have exit data to show how many people may have found gainful employment through the Chester Job Fair, we did have several employers mention that they found some excellent prospects with whom they planned to go into the interview phase.

AFWD would like to thank all of the radio stations that broadcast the public service announcements for the Fairs for over a month.

The 2010 Quincy job fair was held at Feather River College on March 31, 2010. Several local agencies were in attendance to present their businesses to the job seekers. The job seekers delivered resumes to the local businesses in hopes of obtaining employment. The Workforce Development Team members and Alliance for Workforce Development, Inc. (AFWD) employees were on site to answer questions about everything from area employment to green training to the Youth program. Several applications were collected from job seekers that were interested in the Work Investment Act programs. AFWD, Plumas Work Connection provided copies of job fliers from their job board for the job seekers to view.

Alliance for Workforce Development, Inc. (AFWD), Plumas Work Connection had the opportunity to provide a resume workshop to Feather River College’s Student Support Services/TRiO program. The TRiO program assists students from disadvantaged backgrounds to complete college degrees utilizing federal funding. TRiO programs provide such services as counseling, tutoring, mentoring and financial assistance to assist participants in completing their educational goals. For more information and history on the TRiO program, please visit their website:

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On March 30, AFWD presented a resume workshop to half a dozen TRiO students attending Feather River College. The information conveyed to the TRiO students gave them the tools to complete a professional resume. The curriculum covered the various types of resumes, general layouts and relevant content. Participants were very attentive and asked great questions specific to their work history and employment goals. There was a discussion regarding the differences between functional and chronological resumes. We reviewed resume styles and participants were given a handout of several different professional resume examples to use when updating their current resume. Students were invited to AFWD’s computer lab located at the Plumas Work Connection if they should need assistance completing a resume or advice on editing their current resumes. Feather River College, TRiO and Alliance for Workforce Development, Inc. collaborated in providing a very successful resume building workshop and provided beneficial services to our local community.

Two clients of Plumas Work Connection recently completed one week Weatherization training at Cleantech Innovation Center in Oroville, California. CIC/Oroville is the first flagship project of the BayTEC Alliance. For more information on CIC and BayTEC, please view their website at, http://www.cicoroville.org/ CIC is a relatively new training provider with a focus on energy efficiency and green construction methods. In the spirit of reuse and renewal, their 42,000 square foot facility is remodeled from a once empty manufacturing facility.
Our two clients successfully completed the training program on May 21st and received a Certificate of Completion in Basic Weatherization. This specific certificate is offered by only three training providers in California. Our client’s previous construction experience along with the Weatherization certificate has allowed them to begin a six month internship with Plumas County Community Development Commission as Weatherization Technicians. They will be learning the skills of evaluating residential homes overall energy efficiency and determining appropriate and necessary repairs. They will be performing job duties of replacing windows and doors, caulking and weather-striping and evaluating building envelops to increase energy efficiency.

The Weatherization training along with an internship is providing our clients with the opportunity to build upon their existing construction experience and will enable them to apply for positions in the Green Building field upon completion.

The California Energy Commission (CEC), California Employment Development Department (EDD) and California Workforce Investment Boards (WIB)’s are coordinating with state agencies, educators and community organizations to provide training for upcoming jobs. The goal is to build upon our workforce’s existing construction skills to address the need for skilled workers in the fields of Energy Efficiency and Green Construction. American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds are also funding the training.

(left) Clean Energy students watching a solar hot water heater installation demonstration and (right) Butte College' Solar Panels.

Butte College has developed a curriculum presenting information in the areas of Intro to Residential Construction, Environmental Trainin

g, Intro to Green Building, Energy Fundamentals, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Systems, Water Efficient Building and Retrofits, Solar Hot Water Design and Installation and Solar Photovoltaic Design and Installation Principles. Successful participants receive a Certificate of Completion of the course and acquire the required knowledge to pass the NABCEP PV Entry Level Exam.

Alliance for Workforce Development, Inc., Plumas Work Connection has sponsored four participants in the Clean Energy training to date. Two successfully completed the course on May 14th and two are currently in training and will complete the course on June 18th. We have received positive feedback from our participants regarding the training. Butte College is providing an extensive and well thought out curriculum to participants. The Clean Energy training is providing a well rounded core program that upon completion successful participants can either enter the workforce or continue on to a more specialized certificate.

One of our clients who completed the training has started an Internship with Plumas County Community Development Commission as a Weatherization Technician. Over the next several months, he will be learning the skills of completing an initial energy efficiency assessment of residential homes, replacing doors and windows and weather-striping and caulking. Completion of the Clean Energy training along with the skills he will attain during the internship will give our client the education and work experience to successfully enter the workforce in the fields of Green Construction and Energy Efficiency.

Sprouting Roots Community Market was founded in May of 2005 by April Scheuchenzeuber. Involved in the health food industry for over 10 years, Ms. Scheuchenzeuber opened Sprouting Roots as a way to introduce people to new and healthier food options after receiving her AA degree from Feather River College and going on to obtain her BS in Natural Health with an emphasis in herbology.

Recently, Sprouting Roots has changed (slightly) their location. As of April 2010, Sprouting Roots has moved across the street to a larger and more spacious shop that was formerly the site of Klein’s Quality Meats. This increased space improves the company’s visibility and expands their capacity to offer more goods to the public. In addition, the new space provided Ms. Scheuchenzeuber the opportunity to show off her artistic flair with a fantastic hand-painted mural of the sun which now adorns the back main wall of the shop. We wish Sprouting Roots the best success in their new location!

Sierra Pacific Industries (SPI) small log mill closure received Trade Adjustment Act (TAA) certification on November 19, 2009. Affected workers began receiving their individual certification applications in March, 2010. The affected (SPI) employees began bringing in their applications for assistance by the Employment Development Department (EDD) in completing their applications and mailing to EDD for Individual Certification. The affected SPI employees began receiving their TAA Individual Certification letters in March and April. While Alliance for Workforce Development, Inc. (AFWD) have worked with many of the affected SPI employees, several more affected SPI employees presented themselves to the Plumas Work Connection upon receiving their TAA letter.

AFWD’s Career Center Advisors have been working closely with our EDD representative to develop training plans and budgets for various training programs. The first group of trainings will begin in June and July including three clients who will attend Heavy Equipment Operator training at the Northern California College of Construction’s training site in Stockton, California. We also have five clients who will be attending Northwest Lineman College’s sixteen week Electrical Lineworker program in Oroville. We have one client scheduled to attend National Communications Training Center’s three week Fiber-optic Broadband Technician training. And, we have one client who will attend Rockwell Automation’s Programmable Logic Controller (PLC) training in San Ramon, California.

These clients will be the first to attend training sponsored by the TAA. The individual Certifications begin 11/19/2009 and expire 11/19/2011. This provides affected workers with approximately a year and a half to complete a training program. Training programs are specific to each individual and require an informal assessment by a Career Center Advisor and a formal assessment test. We have approximately six to eight additional clients who will be starting a TAA training program in the next several months.

A Career Center Advisor from Alliance for Workforce Development, Inc. (AFWD), Plumas Work Connection (PWC) recently attended a monthly staff meeting at the Plumas Crisis Intervention and Resource Center (PCIRC) located in Quincy, CA. PCIRC provides a 24 hour crisis hotline, referral services to local agencies, emergency food bank, housing and utility assistance and an Independent Living Skills Program among other services to the local community. For more information, please view their website at: http://www.pcirc.info/index.htmlPCIRC.

PCIRC has locations in Portola, Greenville, and Loyalton to provide assistance countywide. A presentation of the AFWD’s services made to PCIRC resulted in a discussion of how AFWD’s resources can serve PCIRC’s clients as well. The discussions were very helpful and offered a better understanding of PCIRC’s services, and clarified how AFWD’s PWC staff can make client referrals appropriately. PCIRC’s and AFWD’s combined efforts will provide better service to our mutual clients. Referral to local partner agencies is an important service provided at the Plumas Work Connection and we will continue to utilize these agencies to best serve our clients.

Simple Fuels is a biodiesel manufacturer in Chilcoot, Plumas County, California that is owned and managed by Jamie Lutch, working with Emily Edmonds, the process engineer.

AFWD staff met with Jamie 
and Emily on April 16 to tour 
the facility and learn about 
the processes involved in 
biodiesel production. A 
fascinating and enlightening 
discussion highlighted the 
business’ need for clerical 
assistance to allow Jamie 
and Emily to focus more fully on 
production.

AFWD has since been able to place a Work-Study student, from Feather River College, to work at Simple Fuels as an administrative assistant.

This extra help has given Jamie and Emily the opportunity to examine their sales and marketing strategy and to devote more time to producing biodiesel.

We are proud to report that Jim Baas, a client of the Plumas Work Connection (PWC), successfully completed Butte College’s Building Inspector training program on April 29, 2010. Jim originally came to the PWC after experiencing a lay-off due to economic conditions.

After the lay-off, Jim job searched both locally and out of the area but was unable to find self-sufficient employment with his current skills. Jim researched training programs and came to the PWC interested in retraining in the field of Building Inspection. Jim is intelligent, consciences and motivated. Jim’s goal was to finish in the top five in his class. Jim successfully completed the course ranking in the top three of his graduating class.

Jim has since tested and passed the Residential Building Inspector Certification exam. He is scheduled to complete the Electrical, Mechanical and Plumbing Certification tests in the next several weeks. Jim has also completed a two week Citation Writing course. The Plumas Work Connection’s resident resume and job search guru, Brendan Norris, is in the process of updating Jim’s resume to assist him in job search. More to follow in next quarter’s Community Coordinator Report.

(left) Jim Baas standing next to his (right) Career Center Advisor Brent Cunningham

Bob Janowski, owner of the Feather Bed, and manager, Noreen Lee, were highly delighted with the work and attitude of James Posey during his Summer Jobs 2009 work experience. As they entered this year’s summer season, with a need for more staff, they immediately thought of James.

James is now an employee, working as a housekeeper at the Feather Bed. He is extremely pleased to have this opportunity to return and work with the group that provided him with such a wonderful work experience last year.

Bob (owner), James and Noreen (Manager) outside the Feather Bed, Quincy’s Bed and Breakfast Inn