Greetings Local Business Owner, May 27, 2021
The steady stream of entrepreneurs like yourself is what helps keep our city’s economy healthy and flourishing. With this understanding, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion has partnered with the City of Columbus’ APPS Job Readiness Program to provide practical work experience, support services and career exploration. The overarching goals are to prepare young people to obtain, keep and excel at their current or future job opportunities. Additional knowledge gained and benefits from young people having summer jobs; increased understanding of financial responsibility, fundamental life skill development and additional supervision for working parents.
In partnership, our offices will work diligently with you, our local business owners to connect young people motivated to work with enriching learning opportunities. Also, we will assess their interest and skill sets to ensure that the placement is mutually beneficial for the young person and the business owner.
This will be an 8 week program. The program is strategically designed with an emphasis on training and mentorship for teens and young adult’s ages 14-23 years old. Below are some of the benefits of the APPS Job Readiness Program:
· We pay for their salary and job readiness training. (No Cost to You)
· You can request young people that you know that are residents or pay Columbus taxes to work at your site.
· College access program that matches participant’s $500 savings with $4000 for educational expenses, that’s a 1:8 match.
· Job Coaches provide support at their work site 3-4 days a week to ensure their success.
· Many participants move on to become full-time employees with our partner businesses.
· Our young people were able to earn a total of $464,000 to support their families in 2020
· You will be contributing to providing a safe and constructive environment for young people.
With that, someone from our team will be reaching out to you to discuss the requirements in which you are seeking from our students. In addition, we welcome you to join our virtual Information Session on Tuesday, June 9th from 1-2. During this time you will have the opportunity to meet APPS and ODI team members and ask questions regarding the program. We are looking forward to discussing opportunities and answering any questions you may have about the APPS Job Readiness program. You can contact Mario T. Martin at 614-645-8430 or Catrena Cannon via email at CSCannon@columbus.gov.
