For six months, Emily Kirby couldn’t find a job. Then the government paid someone to hire her.
Now, the 22-year-old Fresno woman is among dozens who have found work — in the midst of the most difficult employment environment in decades — through a Fresno County program launched in July with federal economic stimulus dollars.
The Fresno County Department of Employment and Temporary Assistance has $35.2 million to finance the program, which targets people who receive welfare.
The idea is simple: Make it easy for employers to hire workers by giving a generous subsidy. The “Economic Stimulus 80/20 Program” covers 80% of each new employee’s paycheck for a year. After that, employers would have to take over.
About 200 people have found jobs since August, and program coordinators say they have the funds to expand that number to 5,000.
Angela Parks, front, and Emily Kirby were able to find work through Fresno County's new Economic Stimulus 80/20 Program, which is funded with federal money.
Fernando Alvarez operates a milling machine at Nemat Management Group in Madera. Alvarez, who had been laid off from his previous job, was hired through Fresno Area Workforce Connection and a government subsidy program that pays 80% of his salary for a year.
Martha Valenzuela, right, and Jacquilla Burris inspect valve parts in the quality-assurance lab at Nemat Management Group in Madera. The women were hired through a government program that will pay 80% of their salary for a year.
That’s important in a county with an unemployment rate of 14.1% in September, well above the state’s overall figure of 12.2%. An estimated 63,500 people are jobless in Fresno County.
“Some companies have said they want to do some hiring in a few months or a year, and this is a jump-start to do it now,” said Emerson Estrada, director of business expansion and retention for the Economic Development Corporation serving Fresno County, which is helping to promote the program.
The program made a dramatic difference for some.
“This means everything to me,” said Kirby, a single mother who needs a job to support her 2-year-old son. “I’m able to work and provide for my family.”
Kirby, who earned a certificate from Cesar Chavez Adult School as a medical assistant in February, said she kept getting beat out for jobs by people with more experience. Then she learned about the 80/20 program.
In September, Kirby became an office assistant at Victory Engineers Inc., a civil engineering company in Fresno — where President Jonathan Reid is thrilled to have her and fellow 80/20 participant Angela Parks.
Reid said he was able to hire the two eager young workers when the recession has forced him to watch his pennies. “I needed office help, but the construction business has taken a hit and I couldn’t afford to pay for it,” he said.
“We found two diamonds in the rough. They are very good.”
Kirby and Parks, a 24-year-old bookkeeper, say they are finally able to get some experience in a grim dog-eat-dog labor market.
“I feel better about myself,” said Parks, who has a certificate from Fresno City College in computerized accounting and searched for months to find work. “It got to the point where I was applying with Little Caesars Pizza and thinking about joining the military.”
The 80/20 plan targets people on the welfare-to-work CalWORKS program and other needy families. The government subsidies end in September, but officials hope that by then employers will be able to afford the full expense and will keep participants employed.
That’s the goal of Mike Nemat of Nemat Management Group in Madera. He has hired seven people through the program and plans to add three more. They are scattered throughout his 40,000-square-foot plant, which uses computer-controlled machining tools to make parts for equipment sold in the San Joaquin Valley and around the world.
“It made business sense and has social value,” he said. “This is a win, win, win for everybody.”
Fresno County — one of several in the state participating in the program — is allowing businesses in neighboring counties to participate if they hire people from Fresno County.
The county’s 80/20 staff screens prospective employees and puts them through a one-week course in basic work skills. “We also provide job-retention assistance to help them, and the business, with any issues that come up,” said Oralia Gomez, program manager with the Department of Employment and Temporary Assistance.
The Economic Development Corporation is holding training sessions for businesses interested in participating. Representatives were in Firebaugh and Mendota on Thursday, at Clovis Veterans Memorial Auditorium on Friday, and will be at Selma City Hall from 1-3 p.m. Monday.
Eighty employers have signed up and hundreds more are interested, Estrada said. Interested businesses can call (559) 476-2511.
Estrada said the program helps in many ways. “The \[newly\] employed can pay taxes and contribute to the tax base and the employers get productive employees,” he said.
“I love it,” added Parks, who is getting vital accounting experience. “I’m hoping to grow with the company. It’s changed my life.”
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