I had the pleasure of attending and exhibiting at the Military Business and Community Expo yesterday in Ventura.  The event had 400+ attendees and offered up some great opportunities to the community as a whole. I also learned that the US Navy is the largest employer in Ventura County and contributes $1.7 billion in annual impact to the county.  The event was designed as sort of a meet, greet, and reach out for the Navy to the community at large, both employed and unemployed. It had a very entrepreneurial spirit to it, and I met some wonderful people. It is amazing to see how resilient the human spirit is when times are tough. I had conversations about new green business models, volunteer veteran support groups, and I even met a newspaper that is expanding into Ventura County. (yes, I did just say a newspaper expanding) I am truly fascinated by the diversity of people that came out and attended this event.
This leads me into the second part of my title, how can you get a free employee for 3 to 6 months? I had this nice woman, by the name of Jenny, come up to my booth and introduce herself. She works for Goodwill of Ventura. My first thought when I heard the name was Goodwill, isn’t that a marketplace for second hand goods? Well it turns out, they have different business units. One of those units carries a contract from the government for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The Recovery Act had three immediate goals:
• Create new jobs and save existing ones
• Spur economic activity and invest in long-term growth
• Foster unprecedented levels of accountability and transparency in government spending
This has lead Goodwill to reach out to businesses, in 52 of 58 counties in California, to find companies that need employees. These employees are paid by the government for 3 to 6 months, and then it is up to the business to decide if they would like to hire them or not. This is a win-win for both the companies and the individual. The individual gets hands-on work experience, and the company gets another body to help drive the business. I personally could use someone who likes to work with graphics, so I will definitely be contacting Jenny for more information. Please feel free to contact me for more information, however I have added links to their website. Have a great weekend!