Newsletter: 8-26-08

Please note that the contact and web site information noted below has changed.

CHECK US OUT ONLINE AND TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK

I am pleased to inform you that we’re launching a website in record time. As of Labor Day, you can check us out at www.2ndchanceWA.org. This is the first version of the site, which will grow as our partnerships develop. So your ideas are welcome. The website communicates the essence of our partnership to help more people grasp opportunity and more employers to find qualified workers.

OUR INITIAL BUSINESS PLAN IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR REVIEW

A strategic business plan for our partnership to help more people grasp opportunity and more employers to find qualified workers is now available. We recognize that the key to breakthrough solutions is to invest time and energy into asking the right questions to the right people so we invest in the right answers. With the initial business plan as a reference point, 2ndChance will be working between now and the end of the year to hear each partner and attract new ones, challenge assumptions and offer new perspectives as groundwork for our shared actions. If you haven’t heard from me in the next three weeks, I’d like to hear from you. Here’s how you can do it:

• The business plan will be featured on the new website, where a comment form will be provided.

• Request a copy from me directly at steve.johnson@2ndchanceWA.org.

• Come to the Investors’ Council meeting from 10:30 to 12:30 on September 22 in the Boardroom in One Union Square at 600 University St. The meeting is open to the public and will focus on review of this plan.

BUILDING ON-RAMPS TO THE CONSTRUCTION TRADES

Entry into apprenticeships in the construction trades is a promising approach to helping us increase the number low-skill adults who attain a credential beyond high school. Emerging efforts to connect low-skilled adults to good paying “green” jobs in the construction and energy efficiency industries only enhance the importance of the construction trades. So do the efforts to find suitable employment opportunities for young adults with criminal backgrounds and gang involvement. The Seattle PI recently highlighted the efforts of the PACT program at the Seattle Vocational Institute to pull all these elements together in one program. You can read more at http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/372452_svi28.html. Congratulations to Bob Markholt and his team at PACT for their great work and this well-deserved recognition.

Steve Johnson
Interim Managing Director
2nd Chance Washington
206.388.1650