Chair Josie Gonzales, County of San Bernardino Fifth District Supervisor celebrates achievement at ribbon-cutting ceremony
San Bernardino, CA (March 4, 2011) When Omar Castro happened upon an empty warehouse marked as a soon-to-open Ross Dress For Less Store, he thought of a way to help. Representing the business service unit for the Countys Workforce Investment Board, Castro offered to recruit and hire the staff needed for the stores opening only a few weeks away.
The new Ross Store will have its grand opening at 9:00 a.m., March 5 at 781 West 2nd Street in San Bernardino, CA. Chair Josie Gonzales, County of San Bernardino Fifth District Supervisor is expected to be present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
For more information, employers and job seekers can inquire through the Countys Employment Resource Centers at (800) 451-JOBS.
Our job placement experts were already working with a group of trained retail workers recently laid off, Castro said. These candidates have the skills and experience Ross needed, so we facilitated the hiring of 55 staff in a short time frame.
The open positions were posted to the Countys online job portal (www.csb-win.org) and a recruitment fair was held on February 18 at a local Employment Resource Center. Qualified candidates were pulled from job seekers already enrolled with the Employment Resource Center, as well as through outreach to the public.
We are proud of the fast response from our Countys Workforce Investment Board, said Chair Josie Gonzales, County of San Bernardino Fifth District Supervisor. This is a prime example of our County investing Workforce Investment Act funding to match workers with employment opportunities.
Under the purview of the County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors, the Workforce Investment Board uses federal Workforce Investment Act funding to provide recruitment services for employers at no cost and a facility for employers to conduct interviews with pre-screened candidates. Other services for businesses include subsidized training programs, employer workshops and human resource support. The business service units goal is help the countys businesses maintain employment levels and keep job opportunities available for the countys residents.
This was a win-win situation, said Sandy Harmsen, Executive Director of the Workforce Investment Board and Director of the Workforce Development Department of San Bernardino County. Our team helped the employer save time and money by finding and hiring trained and skilled candidates. In the process, we put more laid-off job seekers back to work in our county.
About the Workforce Investment Board of San Bernardino County
The Workforce Investment Board of San Bernardino County is comprised of private business representatives and public partners appointed by the County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors. The Board strives to strengthen the skills of the Countys workforce through partnerships with business, education and community-based organizations. The County of San Bernardino Board of Supervisors is committed to providing county resources which generate jobs and investment.
The Workforce Investment Board, through the County of San Bernardinos Economic Development Agency and Workforce Development Department, operates the Countys Employment Resource Centers (ERCs) and Business Resource Centers (BRCs). The ERCs provide individuals with job training, placement and the tools to strengthen their skills to achieve a higher quality of life, and the BRCs support and provide services to the Countys businesses including employee recruitment.