"Trying and difficult circumstances, namely the closing of San Antonio's Levi Strauss plant, inspired the visionary leadership that created Project Quest more than 21 years ago. Different, but equally challenging circumstances, have led to redefining that vision that will carry Quest forward stronger than ever for the next 20 or more years.

Quest, a nationally-awarded workforce development agency, was founded by COPS/Metro Alliance, leaders of the business community, the city of San Antonio, the state of Texas and the regional Private Industry Council..."

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Republican Governor Terry Branstad of Iowa signed into law a bill that will appropriate $100,000 per year for Project IOWA for the next two years. Project IOWA is a labor market intermediary that prepares adults for dignified participation in the labor market by training for jobs that already exist, and thus also helping employers find motivated and skilled workers. Project IOWA was established with the support of AMOS to better address the jobs -skills mismatch in the state.

"A rose to AMOS, a central Iowa church group, for another approach to getting people on the right track to meaningful careers... Project Iowa helps direct unemployed or underemployed participants into careers that happen to be in demand, such as welding or health care. The project was initiated last year by AMOS (A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy), a non-profit group formed by religious leaders and church groups. The program helps participants get training and certification for jobs with local employers looking for workers with specific skills. Project Iowa has assisted 57 participants, and more than 80 percent of those who have completed job training are employed."

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"Representatives from Austin Interfaith and the local business community founded Capital IDEA in 1998, and Steven Jackobs has been heading the organization ever since. Under his direction, the group has helped support, train and find careers for hundreds of Central Texas workers and their families. Capital IDEA – the IDEA stands for Investing in Development and Employment of Adults – works closely with unemployed or underemployed workers to identify a viable and fruitful career path. It's a rigorous process that's designed to ensure that workers are committed to the training and completing it...."

Capital IDEA Leads Clients to Career Path, Austin American Statesman

The Delta Regional Authority awarded workforce development project NOVA $208 thousand to expand training opportunities further into the Delta region. But before doing so, the proposal had to win the approval of Republican Congressman Rodney Alexander and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal. Northern Louisiana Interfaith successful urged both officials to sign off, which will allow NOVA to pull more people out of working poverty.

DRA Funding Benefits NOVA, The News Star

"Two programs that have achieved high retention, completion, and placement rates in this way are Project Quest, a network of programs linked to the Industrial Areas Foundation in Texas and Arizona, and BioWorks, a consortium of life-sciences firms and community colleges in North Carolina.

Project Quest, which the Aspen Institute and Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government have singled out as a potential national model, helps people land their first middle-skills jobs at member companies. Its hallmarks are the high level of personal support that it provides and the strong collaboration among community groups, churches, businesses, and community colleges that it fosters. The programs in the network collaborate with local firms to identify job openings. Employers also provide information about their evolving staffing requirements, cooperate in curriculum development, and offer financial or other support to the trainees and the colleges...."

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"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

"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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"Capital IDEA Executive Director Steve Jackobs quips that when his organization decides to sponsor someone's community college education, it's like a Catholic marriage: "There's only one way out feet first." It's a joke, but indicative of the two-way commitment between Capital IDEA and its participants..."

In photo, student Liz Spinhirne listens to a speaker during a VIP meeting at the ACC Riverside campus.

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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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