Job Creation: It's About Connecting the Dots

New Hampshire (PR WEB) May 2003 -– New Hampshire individuals and businesses have access to a wide range of workforce development resources including training, mentoring, work study, career management, displaced worker, and internship programs. Contemporary workforce training programs are available over the web, in the workplace, and via other more traditional classroom environments. Grants are available for subsidizing employee training; youth programs are available for developing skills that are in demand; and infrastructures are in place to match college students with work-study and internship programs. The problem is how do prospective employees, employers, educators and trainers find these resources and find each other?

Through collaborations between Verizon, The New Hampshire Forum of Higher Education, and the Knowledge Institute, workforce development stakeholders will now be able to tap into an online network that serves to facilitate connections between those looking for education and workforce training programs and those looking to provide the specific education and training needed. This shared project, titled NHWorkNet, will be added to an existing resource portal at www.BUZGate.org in a way that builds knowledge and ultimately connects individuals to a real person who can provide further needed assistance. BUZGate is a project of the Knowledge Institute that currently connects those looking for business development programs and resources to those that provide them.

"There are hundreds of public and private programs in the state of New Hampshire serving to ensure a skilled and trained workforce," said Deborah Osgood, chief executive and knowledge officer of the Knowledge Institute. "Through the innovative application of knowledge and technology, we can help individuals, businesses, educators and trainers to connect with each other in a centralized place that builds awareness and facilitates productive transactions in real time."

Through a grant from the Verizon Foundation and further support funding from the Knowledge Institute, The New Hampshire Forum on Higher Education and the Knowledge Institute will work with public and private organizations and agencies representing educational, business, community, and governmental partners, to collect data and information on available workforce development resources and initiatives. This data will be catalogued in a cross-searchable database and web enabled to permit access by everyone, everywhere on a 24/7 basis with a connection to the Internet.

"At Verizon, we are committed to helping businesses and communities prosper through the use of technology," said Erle Pierce, Director of Public Affairs for Verizon in New Hampshire. "Collaborating with The New Hampshire Forum on Higher Education and the Knowledge Institute helps us to build upon specialized knowledge and innovative technologies in a way that advances the number of productive connections between those in need of workforce resources and those who can productively address such needs."

With a centralized workforce development network, individuals and businesses can locate programs to address routine employment needs such as training programs, scholarship resources, career development help, job training grants, school-to-work programs, legislative initiatives, job openings, employment statistics, career fairs, volunteer programs, and other targeted resources. Specialized workforce programs can also be discovered such as Adopt-a-School and Adults-in-the-Classroom programs.

"In an economy driven by information, we are pleased to be collaborating on this project to build awareness and improve access to higher education resources and specialized workforce training," said Kelly Clark, executive director of the New Hampshire Forum on Higher Education. "This project serves to productively stimulate economic activity while leveraging scarce public and private resources and improving awareness and utilization of workforce training programs."





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