“Santa Barbara County Fights Back Unemployment”
The Santa Barbara County Workforce Investment Board and the California Employment Development Department (EDD), with the support of local cities and organizations, announced this week, the dates for three upcoming job fairs in Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and Lompoc. This is a joint effort to fight unemployment, which currently, according to figures released Friday by EDD, ranks Santa Barbara County at 12th place (tied with Placer County), compared to other counties in the state. According to this report, for the Month of February 2014, Santa Barbara County registered a 7.1 percent unemployment rate.
South Santa Barbara County will kick off the series this week, with their Job and Resource Fair taking place at the Westside Community Center in Santa Barbara. The Job Fairs have been traditionally youth focused, but are being open to anyone looking for a job. The Job Fair schedules will be as follows:
Santa Barbara Job and Resource Fair
Westside Community Center, 423 West Victoria Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Thursday, March 27, 2014
11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Lompoc Job Fair
Veterans’ Memorial Hall, 100 East Locust St. Lompoc, 93436
Thursday, May 1, 2014
1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Santa Maria Job Fair
Veteran’s Memorial Hall, 313 Tunnel St., Santa Maria, 93458
Thursday, June 12, 2014
1:00 to 4:00 p.m.
Santa Barbara County Workforce Investment Board (WIB) Director, Raymond L. McDonald commented, “This is our second consecutive year collaborating to put these types of events together. For our first time last year, thanks to all of our community partners, we had over 1,500 job seekers and over 120 employers in between all three events (Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and Lompoc).” He added, “This year we are encouraging all employers and community based organizations to come out and join us in getting our unemployed back in the workforce.”
The report from the state shows the City of Santa Barbara at 5 percent unemployment, Santa Maria at 11.2 percent and Lompoc at 12.7 percent for the month of February 2014.
For more information or if you are an employer that would like to register for this event, please call: Karen LeDoux, Youth Program Coordinator at (805) 346-7137; Luis Servin, SBWIB Business Services Coordinator at (805) 681-4643 or Linda Hillman, SBWIB Deputy Director at (805) 681-4784.
ABOUT THE WORKFORCE INVESTMENT BOARD OF Santa Barbara COUNTY
The Workforce Investment Board, www.SantaBarbaraCountyWIB.org, is dedicated to serving the workforce needs of businesses, adults, laid-off workers and youth throughout Santa Barbara County. The WIB is a public/private partnership created by the Federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and is staffed by the County of Santa Barbara.
Job seekers and employers can take advantage of free services at two Workforce Resource Centers (“One-Stops”) to help find work or new employees. Programs include employment services for job seekers, the latest labor market information and regional workforce research for businesses, as well as training that specialize in helping people gain the skills and confidence necessary to find and obtain a job. The One-Stop Shops are at 1410 S. Broadway in Santa Maria, (805) 614-1550, and 130 E. Ortega Street in Santa Barbara, (805) 568-1296.