Middlesex Youth Career Development Services (MYCDS) is designed to empower income-eligible youth age 16-21 to make successful transitions to adulthood through life skills training and work placement opportunities. The program is a community-based partnership between the Middlesex Chamber of Commerce and CRT, and funded by the Workforce Alliance through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA). Please contact 860-347-6924, extension 232 or visit Middlesex Chamber to obtain information or set-up an appointment.

Youth @ Work 2013

A new year is upon us, and it is time to look ahead to the 2013 Middletown Summer Youth Employment Program, administered by the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce. The 2012 program featured 80 youth participants, who were placed into jobs throughout 37 host worksites in Middletown, three in Durham, and two in Cromwell. Six weeks might not seem like a long time, but the experience provided a solid foundation and offered a great glimpse into what life in the workforce is like.

The Chamber has the capacity, through our dynamic membership, to place these youngsters into subsidized employment in a wide variety of professional fields. In 2012, and after the application phase was complete, program applicants were put through a comprehensive pre-employment screening process which took into account their hobbies, interests, work experience, future plans, comfort level on the computer and on the phone, and other important factors such as transportation and availability in the summer months. Each applicant was then placed into the best possible employment situation for that individual for a period of six weeks, at 15-20 hours per week. Program host sites represented the government sector, the non-profit sector, and most notably, the private sector. Each year, this program teaches our young people not only the fundamentals of employment, such as getting to work on time and ready to contribute, but also about the pride that comes with putting in a solid week and receiving a paycheck that was earned through hard and honest work.

Workforce Alliance, the state’s south central Workforce Investment Board, stepped up again last summer to be the primary funder of our Youth @ Work Program. However, due to the strong demand for youth employment opportunities in Greater Middletown, the 2012 waiting list would have been more than double the size of the placement list. That is, until Mayor Dan Drew and members of the Middletown Common Council, the local foundation community, and the local business community, stepped up to the plate. The City of Middletown committed $27,100 to summer youth employment, and donations from the private sector and local foundations matched that figure. Instead of 40 kids working through the program this summer, there were 80, and it was a huge success.

We are hoping to expand the program again in 2013. The City of Middletown has once again committed $27,100 to the summer program. Our goal is to match or even exceed that figure by again reaching out to the local business community and the local foundation community. In the vast majority of cases, this program is the source of the Youth @ Work participant’s very first job. This program is absolutely vital to the development of tomorrow’s workforce.

We invite you to join us in this important endeavor which takes kids off the street, and puts them to work in a constructive environment.

For more information on the Youth @ Work Program, please contact Lorenzo Marshall at the Chamber at 860-347-6924 or lorenzo@middlesexchamber.com.

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