Salt Lake Community College and the Utah Department ofWorkforce Services have successfully coordinated efforts to help refugees in
Utah train for new jobs and improve their earning potential. This partnership
has resulted in a 100 percent completion rate for three cohorts of refugees in
the warehouse and distribution training program during 2016.
“Some refugees come to the United States with great
educational backgrounds, but other refugees may come and need to start at the
beginning,” said Deneece G. Huftalin, president of SLCC. “This short-term
training is an example of how SLCC is helping refugees start down a path toward
economic prosperity.”
Each one of the 35 refugees who became certified through the
warehouse and distribution training program at the Utah Refugee Education and TrainingCenter on the SLCC Meadowbrook Campus found new jobs or improved their wages. The
2016 training cohorts were funded through a Utah Cluster AccelerationPartnership grant. Refugees received training at the Refugee Center, one-on-one
assistance to create resumes and then support in preparing for and securing job
interviews.
“We’ve learned that refugees typically earn a lower wage
than the general population and we are working to change that in Utah,” said
Jon Pierpont, executive director of Workforce Services. “Providing refugees
with the opportunity to find well-paying jobs and become self-reliant is a
benefit to them, to their families and to all of us.”
The Refugee Center, which is a partnership between SLCC,
Workforce Services and Utah State University, fosters opportunities for
refugees to access a variety of programs, trainings and higher education
leading to family-sustaining employment, as well as supporting refugees’
efforts to become integrated in Utah’s communities.
In 2016, more
than 25,000 refugees accessed programs at the Refugee Center, which hosted more
than 1,600 workshops and activities including employment support, training,
education, business development and skill development.
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