Growing Delaware Jobs - Some WDEL Stories

(WDEL) Peter Macarthur reports ~ Matching workers with jobs and jobs with workers in DE - Governor Markell wants the state labor department to be the link between Delawareans looking for jobs and Delaware companies looking for employees. Markell is calling it the Job Squad. Resumes are posted on Delaware Job Link, then Job Squad members who are labor department employees try to match a worker who needs a job with a job that needs a worker.

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And via AP ~ Lewes-Rehoboth water taxi study gets $25K grant - The Lewes-Rehoboth Canal Improvement Association has been awarded a $25,000 grant to study the feasibility of a water taxi between the two resort towns....Association member Mark Carter says they are considering using solar-powered pontoon boats. He says the association is looking at extending service through the canal to Dewey Beach and up the Broadkill River to Milton.

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State’s “Job Squad” Connects Unemployed to Job Opportunities - presser
Governor Markell: “If you’re a company with a job to fill, let us help you fill it and help get a Delawarean back to work”
Labor Sec. McMahon: “We want to be the best employment office—not just the best unemployment office—we can be.”

Wilmington, DE – Governor Jack Markell joined employers across the state to highlight the growing work of the state’s “Job Squad” and their efforts to connect businesses looking to hire with talented Delawareans looking for work.

“We make the case every day for companies to consider Delaware as a great choice to locate or expand. We also make the case to companies who are growing here to consider the great talent available to start work immediately,” Markell said.

The “Job Squad” is part of the Department of Labor’s Business Services Unit, and has representatives working in the Department’s “one stop” service center throughout Delaware to match open positions with their database of resumes from Delawareans looking for work. Markell encouraged more companies to turn to the “Job Squad” when they have a position to fill.

“The message is clear – If you’re a company with a job to fill, let us help you fill it and help get a Delawarean back to work,” Markell said. “Most people out of work don’t want a check, they want a chance - to show employers how much value and opportunity they can bring and a chance to provide for their families. The more employers turn to the Job Squad for the free help it offers, the more chances we have to match up that talent with opportunity.”

Department of Labor Secretary John McMahon introduced some of the businesses that moved people off of unemployment and into jobs at their companies by working with the department. He made clear that the Business Services Unit and the talented Delawareans they have access to are both eager to help companies expand. “We want to be the best employment office—not just the best unemployment office—we can be, and more employers are discovering that we can help them get the people they need working,” McMahon said.

Businesses who would like the “Job Squad” to help them find their next employee should call the Division of Employment and Training at 302-761-8131. Delawareans can go to one of the state’s service centers – (http://www.delawareworks.com/officesDOL.shtml) – or update their resumes online through their JobSeeker accounts: https://joblink.delaware.gov/ada/mn_registration_dsp.cfm

The businesses joining the Governor and the Secretary for the event included St. Francis Hospital in Wilmington, Testing Machines Inc. of New Castle, Kraft Foods in Dover, and Pinnacle Foods of Millsboro.

Pinnacle Foods discussed the variety of jobs they look to the Department of Labor to help fill: “Pinnacle has listed various job postings for general production, machine operators, maintenance mechanics, and quality assurance team members. We are a seasonal employer who utilizes the DOL services to satisfy both our seasonal and permanent staffing needs and the partnership produces successful outcomes,” said Mary Jones, Human Resource Assistant at Pinnacle.

Testing Machines, Inc., which moved to Delaware last year from New York and called Delaware’s pro-growth perspective a key decision in his move, pointed out that the responsiveness that helped bring him to Delaware is reflected in the hiring processes at the “Job Squad”: “The interaction was wonderful, immediate and we couldn’t be more pleased. It’s very rare that you do business with government agencies and find that they are so responsive and so professional,” said TMI President John Sullivan.

St. Francis Hospital began working with the Business Services Unit in January and immediately saw a “large increase in the number of applicants” which has been a “great help,” said the hospital’s Director of Human Resources Jennifer Mignone, who also found use of the Department of Labor’s “One Stop” office in Wilmington a help for “career fairs, on-site interviewing” and other resources that businesses can have problems doing on their own sites because of “limited space.” Mignone said she is hoping the Department can help them fill more than 100 openings.

Kraft Foods encouraged other businesses to look to the Department to help them fill their hiring needs: “The staff has been an excellent option for fulfilling our staffing needs within our site,” said Bruce Robinson, Human Resources Crew Leader for Kraft Foods. “Our partnership with the DOL is rock solid. The benefits from recruiting with [them] are simply unmatched.”

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