FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, November 3, 2014
CONTACTS: Brice Freeman, MOED, 410-396-1910, bfreeman@oedworks.com
                Ernest Dorsey, Youth Services, 410-396-6722, edorsey@oedworks.com

Baltimore Seeks to Expand Partnership with Businesses to Promote Summer Youth Employment through Hire One Youth
GBC’s Don Fry joins Deputy Mayor Colin Tarbert to acknowledge local employers for 2014 participation in Hire One Youth and recruit more to join for 2015

Baltimore, Maryland (November 3, 2014) – Deputy Mayor Colin Tarbert, representing Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, and Greater Baltimore Committee President and CEO Donald C. Fry expressed appreciation today to the more than 100 Baltimore businesses that participated in the 2014 Hire One Youth initiative. The Mayor’s Office of Employment Development (MOED) hosted the gathering this afternoon at the Vollmer Center at Cylburn Arboretum.

Employers in attendance were encouraged to bring with them representatives of companies not currently involved in Hire One Youth, the private-sector component of Baltimore City’s nationally recognized YouthWorks summer jobs program. Mayor Rawlings-Blake, in partnership with Mr. Fry and a team of local business leaders, launched Hire One Youth in 2012 to encourage Baltimore companies to hire at least one job-ready 16- to 21-year-old for a summer job.

In a videotaped message, Mayor Rawlings-Blake thanked the more than 100 Hire One Youth employers that directly hired 500 young people and asked for assistance in recruiting more businesses to join the effort for 2015.

"Experience is required for jobs today, but youth can't get experience without jobs," said Mayor Rawlings-Blake. "Connecting youth to employment opportunities requires partnerships with various entities. That's why I have made it my personal responsibility to push for public-private partnerships in an effort to identify as many employment opportunities for our youth as possible. And, as a result of our 2014 push, 5,600 jobs were offered to Baltimore City youth this summer.”

The 2014 Hire One Youth employers represent a variety of Baltimore’s career fields, including health care and social assistance, hospitality/tourism, finance, construction, the arts, and environmental/green jobs. Because Hire One Youth candidates are older teens and young adults, they are able to be matched to jobs that reflect their career interests. Hire One Youth employers are able to interview applicants and select a young person that best fits their needs – both immediately and in the long-term.

“I’ve had many business owners and hiring managers say to me, ‘if I can find a candidate who’s responsible, motivated and engaged, I can train them to do the job I need them to do,’ ” said Mr. Fry. “Hire One Youth provides exactly that opportunity. These young people are pre-screened and have participated in basic job-readiness training before they even sit down to interview. If a company has entry-level positions that require specialized skills, Hire One Youth is an excellent resource for employers to fill future entry-level vacancies.”

Mayor Rawlings-Blake has made youth employment a focus of her administration. On October 21 she hosted a “Solutions City” town hall meeting at a Starbucks store in Federal Hill to discuss the issue with local employers. And she and the Baltimore City Council have given consistent and strong support to YouthWorks. The Mayor and City Council invested more than $1.5 million in the program this year. This city funding, combined with more than $1.38 million in state funds allocated by Governor Martin O’Malley, created more than 2,200 YouthWorks jobs. In addition, the Maryland State Department of Human Resources and the Baltimore City Department of Social Services provided their annual $1 million grant to YouthWorks, creating jobs for 769 teens who receive Temporary Cash Assistance (TCA), live in homes that receive TCA, and/or live in foster care.

Augmenting the strong public support it receives, YouthWorks relies upon generous contributions to the Baltimore City Foundation from private foundations, businesses, and individual donors to fund the positions of thousands of additional participants. YouthWorks’ major funders in 2014 included the American Trading & Production Corporation, AT&T, Constellation, Grant Capital Management, Motorola Solutions Foundation, Northrop Grumman Foundation, Paul’s Place, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Bank of America Charitable

Foundation, The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, and The Starbucks Foundation.

For more information about YouthWorks and Hire One Youth, please visit www.oedworks.com/youthserv/summer.htm or call 410-396-JOBS (5627). Businesses interested in becoming a Hire One Youth employer for 2015 can complete the online form at http://www.baltimorecity.gov/hireoneyouth/.

YouthWorks is Baltimore City’s summer jobs program, which places young people between the ages of 14 and 21 in six-week summer jobs with private sector, nonprofit and city and state government employers throughout the city, where they develop familiarity with the workplace, become better prepared to meet employers’ expectations, and gain exposure to career opportunities in the Baltimore metropolitan area’s high growth industries.

YouthWorks is operated by the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development with the support of the Baltimore City Foundation along with multiple funders and workforce partners.

 ###