Published May 2003

Grant helps WorkSource promote services

SCBJ Staff

Snohomish County is a target area in a stepped-up campaign to urge more businesses to seek employment help from the WorkSource program.

Among services being promoted are free help-wanted listings for employers, and the state’s largest database of people seeking work.

The campaign is being paid for through a one-time $1.6 million U.S. Department of Labor grant. It’s part of a seven-state effort to find ways to get more businesses to use the services of “one-stop career resource centers,” which provide services both to unemployed workers and companies looking to hire.

The timing of the grant was perfect, said Kristin Alexander, a spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Employment Security. Washington has high unemployment rates but doesn’t have the money, given the current budget crisis, to promote WorkSource’s programs.

The agency has started a direct-mail campaign, targeted at companies in the manufacturing, retail and business services sectors. The first mailing was a letter from Gov. Gary Locke urging companies to take advantage of WorkSource services. Follow-up mailings will continue through July.

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