An economic impact study examined almost 400 people who graduated from JobPath in the last five years to track their progress. They found that the vast majority of people who graduated from JobPath still have a job five years later in the Tucson area, and that many have tripled or even quadrupled their pre-training wage.

Said Applied Economics researcher Sarah Murley, "That is a huge increase over a relatively short period of time." JobPath was established by Pima County Interfaith as part of a multi-pronged living wage strategy.

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Due to its work in closing the achievement gap for Latinos in college access and STEM education, Project ARRIBA (established by EPISO and Border Interfaith) was named one of three El Paso "Bright Spots" by the White House Initiative on Education Excellence for Hispanics. Since its inception, ARRIBA has graduated and placed over 1,100 students in the El Paso economy.

With over 400 graduated participants since 2010, Dallas Area Interfaith-established Skill Quest is making a name for itself through effective long-term job training. Says columnist Mercedes Olivera, Skill Quest is "doing its share to help reduce Dallas' poverty rate, one of the highest in the country."

Skill QUEST Curbs Dallas Poverty by Helping Workers Move Into New Careers, Dallas Morning News

The NOVA Workforce Institute of Northeast Louisiana broke their own record in job-placement this month, placing 17 of its graduates in living wage careers. Since 2009, NOVA has placed 461 adults into living wage work, with a projected annual wage impact of $7.4 million. Economist Bob Eisenstadt, the rector of the University of Louisiana at Monroe's Center for Business and Economic Research said,

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Over 400 leaders of COPS / Metro Alliance assembled at St. Henry's Catholic Church, to confront the top candidates for Mayor and City Council (Districts 2, 3, 5 and 7) on wages, workforce development and housing in the City.

Leaders asked candidates to commit to raising wages for the lowest paid city employees from $11.47 to $14.91 / hour over three years, starting with $13 / hour for fiscal year 2016; establishing a wage floor for contracted and outsourced workers to at least the City's current minimum of $11.47; stabilizing city funding for workforce development program Project Quest at $2 million per year; and working with COP / Metro leaders on a 2017 city bond for housing rehabilitation.

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On Monday, March 9th, President Barack Obama announced a new 'TechHire' initiative, speaking to nearly 2,000 at the National League of Cities Conference. The work of Project Quest Executive Director Pearl Ceasar and Deborah Carter of Rackspace was recognized for moving lower income people into high demand occupations like Information Technology.

Project Quest's partnership with Rackspace has already resulted in the graduation of dozens of lower income people from the Open Cloud Academy. Project Quest played a pivotal role in recruiting and supporting these students, implementing best practices developed by West / Southwest IAF labor market intermediaries.

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Responding to David Brooks' assertion that the President's proposal to provide cost-free community college access is not enough, TMO leaders Rev. Kevin Collins, Mr. Franklin Olson and Mr. Bob Fleming offer initial agreement and the good news that the types of programs Brooks calls for already exist in Texas.

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With over 100 leaders in attendance, Border Interfaith assembled with candidates for County Commissioner Precinct 4 to challenge them to work with the organization for greater regulation of payday lending, a boost to the wage floor for County employees and contractors to $10 / hour, and the investment of $100K in County funds into job training program Project ARRIBA. One candidate, Julio Diaz, committed to the agenda. The other candidate did not. Leaders vowed to spread the word and get out the vote.

Diaz, Haggerty Offer Stark Choices in Race for El Paso County Commissioner in Precinct 4, El Paso Times

Rick Cohen of NonProfit Quarterly has a few recommendations for US Vice President Joe Biden as he plans his next steps:

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Citing evidence that the regional return on investment for Project ARRIBA's workforce development is $26 for every $1 invested, the City Council of El Paso voted to increase funding to $1.5 Million over five years, rather than the $1.25 Million initially recommended by city staff. This is the single largest investment the city has made into ARRIBA since its inception.

This funding will enable the project to support the training and placement of 600 El Pasoans into living wage careers in the border region. Organization leaders are hopeful that this will help leverage matching funds from the State of Texas through the Texas Innovative Adult Career Education (ACE) Grant Program.

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