Guest blog post by Anthony G. Wilhelm, Director,
Broadband Technology Opportunities Program, National Telecommunications and
Information Administration (NTIA)
Last week I visited a new WorkSource
Center Satellite in South Los Angeles, where a Recovery Act investment by NTIA
has funded 25 new computer stations that community members seeking jobs can
use. Coupled with hands-on assistance and career counseling from trained
personnel, this investment is creating economic opportunities in a neighborhood
where poverty and unemployment rates are unacceptably high. All told,
NTIA’s $7.5 million grant to the City of Los Angeles for its Computer Access
Network (LA CAN) project–part of a $4 billion Recovery Act investment to
expand broadband access and adoption in communities nationwide–will upgrade
more than 180 public computer centers in some of the city’s neediest
neighborhoods.
The WorkSource Center Satellite is
located with the Chicana Service Action Center, whose CEO, Sophia Esparza, told
me how the project is preparing job seekers, not for yesterday’s jobs, but for
the “green jobs” of the future. Customers, including returning veterans
and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) recipients, are benefiting
from strong partnerships between the city and local employers to place solar
installers, energy auditors, lead green technicians and electrical auto
technicians into well-paying jobs. The center expects to serve about
150,000 jobseekers annually.
The project team illustrated for me
how the Center is helping unemployed residents transition to the workplace. In
recent months, for instance, a 51-year-old man who was receiving food stamps
came to the Center in desperate need of a job. After attending workshops on
basic computer literacy, resume writing and interview skills, he is now
working as a sales representative and looking forward to his first pay raise.
Another example: a 25-year-old single mother of two, who never held a permanent
job and relied solely on government assistance, attended workshops and received
one-on-one support from the Center. She is now employed as a data entry clerk.
For many adults, free computer training can be a life-changing experience.
In fact, the LA CAN team is so
committed to ensuring this Recovery Act investment benefits residents right
away that they have found creative ways to accelerate the project schedule,
aiming to finish ahead of their original plan. They know that to bring their
community the jobs of the future, the community needs
broadband access today.