Funding Available: Opportunity Works Request for Proposals

In suburban Cook County there are more than 33,000 young adults between the ages of 16 -24 who are disconnected from both work and school. At the same time, many employers report a skills shortage and need for a talented labor force. The Office of the President of the Cook County Board of Commissioners and the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership are leading an effort that will bridge the gap between young adults seeking to build a career and employers looking to build their talent pipeline.

To view a summary of the Opportunity Works Program and RFP process click the document to the left.
 
Documents comprising the Request for Proposals for Opportunity Works and updates about the RFP process and program can be found at http://www.workforceboard.org/opportunityworks
 
  

FarmWeekNow.com Article: New Senate Ag Committee chair hosts Moultrie CFB leaders

• Illinois Farm Bureau
• Agriculture

Read below or click here to view today's article from FarmWeekNow.com on Senator Harris hosting farmers from Moultrie County in his district.

New Illinois Senate Agriculture and Conservation Committee Chairman Sen. Napoleon Harris, D-Harvey, recently hosted about a dozen of his "adopted" farmers from Moultrie County for a tour of his south suburban legislative district. During the tour, Harris focused on some urban agricultural initiatives occurring in his district.

The visitors met the senator at his district office and received an overview of Harris’ district. The Moultrie County Farm Bureau group presented the senator with a information about the county, Farm Bureau hat, Ag Mags for his children and other items.

Read more …

Congresswoman Kelly to Host Youth Job and Resource Fair

Congresswoman Robin Kelly will host a Youth Job and Resource Expo for young men and women between the ages of 15 and 24 on Saturday, April 1, from 9 a.m. to noon, in the Field House of Thornton Township High School, 15001 Broadway Ave., Harvey.

More than 50 companies and agencies will be accepting applications for available jobs, summer internships and apprenticeships. Participating employers and agencies include Nike, Walgreens, Chase Bank ComEd, Illinois Department of Transportation and Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership.
                        
To help young people prepare for the hiring event and interviews, Rep. Kelly will sponsor a Job Readiness Boot Camp on Wednesday, March 29, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., in Room T107, located inside the Technical Building of Thornton Township High School, in Harvey.

To pre-register, visit reprobinkelly.eventbrite.com. For more information, call (708) 679-0078, or visit robinkelly.house.gov.

Harris: Time for contingency plans, tough decisions

After two years of holding the Illinois budget hostage for political gain, Gov. Bruce Rauner now is faced with cutting an astounding $5 billion worth of state programs and services to balance the budget he presented to taxpayers last month.

“We live in the real world where we have to be realistic. We need to think about contingency plans and moving forward,” said Senator Napoleon Harris III, a Harvey Democrat and chairman of the Senate’s Agriculture Committee. “From day one I have said we must work together to fix these issues. It’s going to take tough decisions by all to get this done.”

Gov. Rauner has proposed a budget that is unbalanced by nearly $5 billion – a figure that was reinforced this week when the General Assembly’s Commission on Government Forecasting and Accounting released an analysis that suggests the state’s revenues are $329 million lower than the governor’s February budget estimate, pushing his budget proposal further into the red.

Yet during a series of Senate committee hearing this week, agency directors under the Rauner administration were unable or unwilling to identify cuts to personnel or programs that could enable the governor to bridge the gap. That includes representatives of the Illinois Department of Natural of Resources and the Illinois Department of Agriculture, both of whom appeared before the Senate Agriculture Committee.

“We posed a simple question to these agencies: Where in your agency’s budget can you cut to help fill this $5 billion hole in the governor’s proposed statewide budget?” Harris said. “They were stonewalling, or they’ve never given it a thought. Either way, it’s a problem for the people of Illinois who deserve answers.”