A boost for Chester County's jobless

Free "12 Steps Toward Employment" workshops are scheduled in Chester Springs and Oxford to aid Chester County's unemployed and underemployed, including recent college graduates.

Seminars will be held from from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 28, at the Henrietta Hankin Branch Library, 215 Windgate Drive, Chester Springs (Ludwigs Corner) and repeated at the same time on Thursday, Aug. 4, at the First Presbyterian Church, 6 Pine Street, Oxford.

The workshops, first introduced last fall, are part of the Road to Employment initiative established by the Chester County Workforce Investment Board (WIB) with grant funds received from the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry.  Casey Jones of Parkesburg, the workshop developer and presenter, said the sessions focus on development of an employment search plan and pursuit of the wealth of resources available to Chester County job-seekers.

"Some newly unemployed decide to take the summer off from job-seeking, expecting they will obtain a job quickly in the fall," Jones noted, saying that "a large number face major disappointments and lost time when this doesn't occur."  Required registration information for limited seats at individual workshops, along with additional job-seeking tools, may be obtained at  www.chesco.org/JobSeekerToolkit.        Additional information on this initiative is available from Jones at bps461@msn.com or (610) 707-1494.