December 2019
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S E-NEWSLETTER
This holiday season we are thankful for so many things, during this time our thoughts turn gratefully to you, with warm appreciation. Our Board, Elected Officials and staff have been hard at work wrapping up a busy 2019 and preparing for an exciting 2020.

In this newsletter, we will share highlights from our many initiatives since we last met. We will open with our 8th Annual Hiring Red, White & You! Job Fair Highlights. It is our honor and privilege to assist our veterans, their spouses and families by offering the opportunity to connect with so many excellent employers.

We also appreciate the opportunity to participate in the Texas Workforce Commission Annual Conference. We selected the Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center as our Local Employer Award of Excellence. This conference is a special time for board and staff to gain information and insight and to convene with workforce colleagues across the state.

We look forward to celebrating all the blessings we had this year at our Annual Awards meeting in February 2020, look for more information on that soon. On behalf of the staff I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season and a prosperous 2020!


Sincerely,
Judy McDonald, Executive Director
Featured in this month's newsletter:

  • Court in the Community Event & Re-Entry Job Fair
  • NAWB Convening
  • 8th Annual HRWY
  • 23rd Annual TWC Conference
  • Adult Vocational Academy Update
  • Text Alerts
  • Next AMTP Class
  • Job Fair Update
  • Board Member News
  • Young Adult Update
Over 60+ employers and resource agencies will be in attendance!
NAWB Convening
Workforce Solutions co-hosted along with the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) a Convening at Globe Life Park in Arlington on November 13th. This regional convening in Tarrant County was part of a series of events NAWB lead around the country. The purpose of the convening was to provide NAWB an opportunity to dialogue with our local workforce boards and regional leadership to better understand what Federal policies are needed and also what is working at home. We learned more about our growing regional economies, evolving workforce and the changing needs of business and industry. The information collected will not only help inform our work here in North Texas but will also contribute to a report to be produced by NAWB that summarizes key themes, issues and proposed solutions voiced during the series of convening's. NAWB will then utilize the information to communicate with other national organizations and to policy-makers to impact national policy.
8th Annual Hiring Red, White & You! Job Fair
For 8 years we have called Globe Life Park in Arlington the home to our biggest event of the year… Hiring Red, White & You! Job Fair . This was our last year at the current ballpark, we have already started talking to the Rangers Team about moving the event to their new stadium which should be ready in Spring of 2020. Not only will it be climate controlled BUT it might give us the opportunity to put all the employers in one space/open up to more employers. Lots of possibilities so stay tuned.
 
We fought traffic accidents, rain and cold but the Tarrant County Team knocked it out of the park again this year. Below are some of the preliminary numbers but I want to start with a really BIG THANK YOU! This job fair takes months and months of planning and it goes fully force from beginning to end. Team Tarrant again ROCKED the heck out of this event. Everyone was so helpful, and I heard so many compliments about the staff, the event and even the food.
 
31 cities across Texas hosted a HRWY event on November 7th, although we have not heard from all our counterparts around Texas so far it looks like our event in Arlington was the largest in DFW. Congratulations! The Texas Workforce Commission reported: “Over the past seven years, Hiring Red, White & You! has connected more than 84,153 job seekers, including 35,485 Veterans and 48,668 spouses, to 14,420 employers and over 2,027 same-day hires.”
 
We had an awesome opening to the job fair – Mayor Williams , Courtney Arbour , TWC Workforce Director (from TWC), Judy McDonald , Board Members, Partners and many of our Texas Delegation Staff joined us. Ohhh and who could forget Rangers Mascot Captain joined us again and as always was a big hit. Thank you to all our special guests who braved the cold and rain to take part in such a special event.

2019 HRWY Stats:
  • We had 737 job seekers attend the event
  • Of that number 170 identified as Veterans
  • Going into the big day we had over 751 pre-registrations
  • We had 153 Employers in 3 locations at the Ballpark
  • Kirkbooth – We had the fabulous folks from Kirkbooth join us again this year. I think there was a constant flow of people taking their professional head shots all day!
  • This year we hosted Resume Review in the Batter’s Eye Club, the reviews were conducted by our Workshop Facilitation team. This was a wonderful service we provided to our job seekers.
  • 47 job seekers participated
  • Employers reported on their survey’s
  • 40 on-site hires (that is more than 2018)
  • 1,132 interviews took place/were scheduled

I hope you take a moment to look at the pictures from this year’s event, it really captures our WHY. Click here to check out all the pictures!
23rd Annual Texas Workforce Commission Conference
The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) held its 23rd Annual Conference December 4-6, 2019 in Grapevine, Texas. We were pleased that several board members able to join staff at the Annual Conference. Attendees Included: Mike Doyle, Jon Gustafson, Deb Jones, Bruce Payne, Raymond Todd, Estrus Tucker and Gracie Vega. Hope Moon from the Fort Worth Chamber, Staff and of course Carvan Adkins also attended. 

As you would expect the hospitality we received from the staff at The Gaylord Texan was wonderful as always!

We were excited to honor Gracie Vega and The Gaylord Texan with our local Employer Award of Excellence. You will hear more about this award in February at our Awards meeting. While at the Conference, Gracie Vega moderated Commissioner Demerson's Super Session highlighting Game Changers making an impact on our future workforce. The session was standing room only and featured a 14-year-old entrepreneur, Mikaila Ulmer, founder of Me & the Bees Lemonade. Gracie a game changer herself had a lot of great information to share with the audience. Gracie gave examples of new approaches to do work at Marriott, working from home, making your own schedule and highlighted ways Workforce Solutions has assisted the Gaylord. It was a fabulous session! 

We hosted a booth at the conference along with Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas and Workforce Solutions for North Central Texas. We showcased our new Regional Workforce Leadership Annual Report, which features our work with industry. We should have the online version soon!
Workforce Solutions participated in many pre-conference sessions at this years conference. Topics included: HireAbility, Communications, Skills Development Fund, TAWB/EDC, Rapid Response and AEL. Pictured on the Left: Rodney Rivera , Student HireAbility Navigator, updating his counterparts on what works in Tarrant County.

Picture on the Right: Texas Workforce Commission Executive Director Ed Serna with President of Workforce Solutions Greater Dallas, Laurie Larrea , Executive Director of Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County, Judy McDonald and Executive Director of Workforce Solutions of Central Texas, Susan Kamas .

Whats the next Adult Vocational Academy?
The Adult Vocational Academy  is a combination of literacy training, vocational training and connection to local employers that allows students to achieve an industry valued credential and to access employers hiring for that credential. 
 
Through a partnership with Tarrant County College , this is offered at no cost to the student, if eligible. Students enter the academy to build on basic skills and complete training while receiving support classes and wrap around services to address any obstacles that may arise. Students without a High School Diploma will receive instruction to help them achieve that goal prior to entering training. All students move through the model in a supportive group to reach their goals. Students will learn about career and post-secondary education exploration related to the industry and preparation to secure that job.
 
The Next Academy (starting in early 2020) is:
The Entrepreneurship Academy will focus on the skills and knowledge needed to create and manage a small business. Topics Covered will include: Accounting, Bookkeeping, Social Media/Marketing, Legal Considerations, Small Business Management, Marketing and Sales, AutoCAD and 3D Printing. The credentials obtained in this academy include: Quickbooks Certification and AutoCAD Certification.  

Job Fair Update
Check out the results of our 3rd Annual Industry Discovery Expo, Councilmember Flores Job Fair and Arlington Answers Job Fair.
Texas Workforce Commission Chairman Daniels and Commissioner Demerson visiting our 3rd Annual Industry Discovery Expo.

  • 3rd Annual Industry Discovery Expo – Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County hosted our third annual Industry Discovery Expo in celebration of Careers in Texas Industries Week on September 13th at AT&T Stadium. This statewide initiative in partnership with The Texas Workforce Commission, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and Tri-Agency partners, is designed to increase awareness among middle and high school students about the opportunities of in-demand careers in Texas industries.
  • We had an overwhelming response to this year’s event, we hosted over 1000 students from 22 area schools. 
  • Employers participating in Careers in Texas Industries events will have the opportunity to showcase the exciting and rewarding careers in their industries. This event will provide students, parents and educators opportunities to network with industry professionals such as colleges, employers, community resources, and many more!
  • We had Employers and ISD Showcase Booths are our event below is a list of participants:
  • Aledo ISD- Robotics
  • Arlington ISD
  • Sports Medicine
  • AISD Police Academy
  • AISD Fire Academy
  • Robotics
  • Arlington Police Department - Law Enforcement Skills
  • Balfour Beatty - virtual construction
  • Bell- Drone Soccer, Programmable Tello Drones, Air Taxi VR Experience
  • Cook Children's Health Care System - clinicians from across the company 
  • Crowley ISD - Claw-bots, sparrows (remote bots), 3-D printer and Auto Cad techniques.
  • DFW Aerospace Consortium- FlyBy DFW App
  • ESC Region 11 - Gaming Stations / Robot
  • Fort Worth ISD          
  • TV background, switcher, lights and video camera
  • FTC competition robots, Drones, trophies
  • Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center - Hospitality Industry related activities
  • Groove Jones- Virtual Reality
  • Hotel Association of Tarrant County - Virtual Reality, hotel room mock up, etc.
  • Klein Tools - Tools demonstration
  • Mansfield ISD - Solar car, CNC equipment and Electronics equipment
  • Microsoft - Digital Art/Marketing, Augmented Reality, STEM
  • North Richland Hills Library - 3d printing, and a robotics kit
  • Tarrant County College- Welding, CNC, and Robotics simulators
  • Tarrant Regional Water District - Water Conservation related activities
  • TWC - LMI Stuff and Selfie Boards
  • UPS - Videos highlighting the new State of the Art automated sorting facility in Arlington Texas.
  • Check out all the photos here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmH17saZ
 
  • Councilmember Carlos Flores Job Fair – September 4, 2019 – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. –Grapevine Convention Center. Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County was proud to co-host the Councilmember Flores Job Fair. Other hosts include: Councilmember Flores, The City of Fort Worth and Trinity Metro. Below are some of the numbers from the event:
  • 62 job seekers attended the event
  • Of that 7 identified as Veterans or Spouse of Veteran
  • We had 30 employers register for the event
  • Of that 27 employers attended
  • Employers reported the following:
  • 16 interviews conducted / scheduled

  • Arlington Answers Job Fair – October 2, 2019 – 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. – Rush Creek Church. You know a partnership is good when a big name like Arlington ISD comes to you and asks to be added to the initiative. In late Summer, we along with the folks at Rush Creek met with AISD staff who had a need. They wanted to partner with us to put on another Arlington Answers Job Fair in the Fall that they could help guide their AISD parents to. We partnered on that event and here were the results:
  • 89 employers registered
  • 81 employers were in attendance at the event
  • 639 Interviews Scheduled/Conducted
  • 49 Offers Made (yay)
  • 366 job seekers attended the event 
  • Of those 22 identified as a Veteran or Spouse of a Veteran
  • Top ways they heard about the event:
  • #1 – Social Media
  • #2 – Church Announcement / Flyer
  • #3 – Waterbill, Website and Workforce Office (all close in numbers)
  • Resume Review Folks saw 69 folks  

Since we last met on August 28th we have hosted/participated in over 68 events
Next AMTP Class
The next Aerospace Manufacturing Training Program, AMTP at TCC Opportunity Center, starts January 13, 2020.

There will be a day and evening class option.
 
 
Space is still available, for more information contact Jerry Hutyra with Tarrant County College at jerry.hutyra@tccd.edu or 817.515.2510
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Board Member News
Dr. Marcelo Cavazos: Arlington Collegiate High School located on the Tarrant County College (TCC) SE campus was named one of the TOP School by the College Board Opportunity Scholarship. More information can be found here.

Mike Doyle: Mike was inducted into the Birdville ISD Hall of Honor for athletic achievement in golf and his contributions to the community as a BISD graduate.

Gracie Vega: The Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center was named by the Dallas Morning News one of the 2019 Top 100 Places to work!

Congratulations to all! We are proud to help celebrate your accomplishments!

Young Adult Program Updates

Youth in Foster Care Conference: This year’s Foster Care Conference, held October 1-2, 2019, provided a first-hand understanding on the initial view from a foster kid’s perspective of the Family Service process and how it affected their current livelihood and shaped their future. There were several foster youth who spoke about their journey, some were good, some were challenging and some we could not believe that they made it through and lived to tell about it. Even though each individual had a different journey, each one was able to draw form their experience and create something positive. They explained that although different entities came into their lives to help, such as Workforce Solutions, mentors, and relatives, their journey sometimes interfered with the process because of so much going on in their world. Each person gave ideas as to how to better help any foster youth that request services and that advice was patience.

It was also exciting to meet all of the TWC Commissioners and to get their perspective on working with foster youth and what they would like to see in the upcoming year.

Staff shared that it was a great experience and an excellent opportunity to meet great people and build professional relationships.


Congratulations to Daphne Brookins, Youth Administrator, Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County. Daphne was recently sworn in as the newest trustee member of the Fort Worth ISD Board of Education and was appointed Governor Abbots OneStar National Service Commission. Congratulations to Daphne! Click on the links below to read more about both accomplishments.


Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County
Phone: 817-413-4000
Connect with us
An equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available, upon request, to individuals with disabilities. (TDD/TTY) 1-800-RELAYTX.