"Project Quest has helped more than 4,000 obtain jobs paying close to $40,000 per year.... Says Fr. Walter D'Heedene, these 'jobs, with benefits, will last so that families can provide for their children for years." Project Quest was established by the COPS / Metro Alliance.

Project Quest Helps People Get Jobs Through Training, Univision Television - Canal 41

Leaders created additional economic opportunities for workers by pushing through a "preference policy" prioritizing local bids for contracts and vending with the City of Santa Cruz and Monterey County. This is part of COPA's regional strategy to promote hiring by municipal and school district entities from within Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey.

"The roar of a bulldozer will prompt a celebration in an Alief neighborhood whose residents have waged a four-year battle to get rid of an abandoned, burned-out condominium complex....The Metropolitan Organization of Houston, along with determined neighbors, thought the disintegrating structure was so dangerous that the city of Houston should spend money to bulldoze the darn thing, but legal and budgetary impediments precluded quick action..... The machinery, which will demolish the public nuisance known as the Winfield I, represents a triumph..."

Civic Activists Win Fight Over Eyesore Condos, Houston Chronicle

Thirty six workforce development trainees graduated this summer from Project IOWA, a 21st century workforce development initiative established by AMOS. 86% are now established in career-track jobs with full-benefits and are earning, on average, $15 / hour. Some advanced manufacturing graduates started at $20 / hour!

 

"I wish San Antonio City Council could have heard her speech.

Amira Dadzie came from Ghana to the US in 2002.... told a crowd of more than 100 at the ceremony at our Lady of the Lake University's chapel auditorium that she couldn't have without Project Quest. Her path is an inspiration for anyone prone to let life's hardships overcome aspirations. But what I'm hoping is that it also is inspiration for the City Council to rethink giving the program less than it did in previous budgeting."

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COPS/Metro Alliance leaders applauded Maruchan's decision to withdraw their application for tax incentives and welcomed the company to Bexar County. "We reiterate our support for economic development and job creation," said Fr. Steven Gamez, pastor of St. Philip of Jesus Catholic Church and leader with COPS/Metro Alliance. "However, we strongly believe that it is a mistake to offer public subsidies when most of the jobs would pay minimum wage; the free market will take care that and Maruchan's decision proves it."

COPS/Metro leaders had publicly raised questions surrounding this deal because of the impact on working families.... "We agree with Maruchan leaders that 'the additional tax revenues for betterment of the community,' especially bringing up the skills of our workforce. We look forward to working with Maruchan, as well as city and county officials, to create opportunities for those workers who will earn the minimum wage."

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"Saturday morning, McClellan was one of 49 Inland Valley residents who participated in a jobs workshop organized by the Pomona Valley Cluster of the Inland Empire Sponsoring Committee, formerly known as One LA....

The workshop drew a diverse group of job seekers, among them recent high school graduates, people approaching retirement age, day laborers and out-of-work executives, said the Rev. Robert Linthicum, a retired minister who is a Sponsoring Committee leader.

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Lisa Pansza and Laura Garcia, "two participants of Project Quest, Inc., a local non-profit that provides education and workforce training, recently won top awards at a statewide vocational nursing contest. The two winners "have demonstrated through their achievements both their individual commitment as well as the value of this program in generating highly skilled workers from within our local community," said Dave Marttala, Project Quest's executive director."

Project QUEST is a community-based workforce development program created in 1992 through collaborative relationships initiated by Communities Organized for Public Service (COPS) / Metro Alliance, the San Antonio business community leadership, employers of high-skill workers and other private and public entities.

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"'Jobs in the middle-skill and high-skill categories will become increasingly difficult to fill because of demographic changes, structural change in the economy and divergent skill distribution,' the report said. "Iowa's labor force is expected to grow more slowly at the same time that baby boomers will be retiring."

The statistics are compelling for Reed, who is participating in Project Iowa, a central Iowa faith-based initiative designed to help unemployed or under-employed Iowans train for high-demand jobs...."

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San Antonio's Workforce Development Task Force, composed of a diverse collection of city and county representatives, leaders in the business and health community, and executives from two universities and a community college, reported their findings and unanimous recommendation to City Council: "Expand funding for long term training program Project Quest."

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