North State businesses agree that students need extra job training, mentoring, experience, and exploration. A 2018 Trinity Together business survey indicated that 56% of businesses felt current employees lacked work skills, and 25% of businesses surveyed said they had difficulty filling positions due to applicants not having experience in the workforce. In Trinity County, partners came together with the business community to do something about this.
Trinity Together and a local high school coordinated to create The Career Experience Program to link students with paid and unpaid work experience in their communities to build a variety of skills and become work ready. The result is that young people can explore and broaden their career options and develop the soft skills they need to be successful on an off the job.
Trinity Together recognizes that work preparedness doesn’t end when youth become adults. In the North State, employers in the construction trades were searching for workers, and adult students were looking for new career opportunities. When approached by the Smart Workforce Center, Trinity Together jumped at the chance to partner and increase the workforce through a nationally recognized pre-apprenticeship program for construction trades. Since the partnership began, Trinity Together has helped to build construction math and job readiness skills for over 70 attendees from the region.
Photos Courtesy of Trinity Together
