Job training facility opened in South Los Angeles

$36 million to be invested in workforce system 

LOS ANGELES — Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled the new Vernon-Central WorkSource Center at a ribbon cutting ceremony on Wednesday afternoon at Los Angeles Trade Technical College.

Located in South Los Angeles, the center will provide its residents with job training and referrals, interview preparation, career counselors, education assessments, and other services necessary to gain employment in various sectors.

“The significance of opening this workforce center at Trade Tech College is enhanced by the fact that for the first time such a center is actually based in South Los Angeles, an area with one of the highest unemployment rates in the region,” said Congresswoman Lucile Roybal-Allard (CA-40).

Additionally, the center, which is meant to enhance the city’s workforce delivery system, will leverage community partnerships, including those with community colleges, to assist Angelenos gain employment in high-growth sectors.

Scott Svonkin, president of the Board of Trustees of the Los Angeles Community College District, said community colleges helped him get to where he is today.

“Community colleges… take people like me, a high school dropout, who then goes on to graduate from community college and then Cal State Northridge and on to be president of the largest community college [district] in the nation,” he said.

LA’s workforce delivery system will focus on key industries such as technology, tourism, healthcare, hospitality, construction, green jobs, and advanced manufacturing.

Garcetti said that there are many living-wage jobs available to Los Angeles residents, but that employees needed are not produced in the region. He said he spoke to some hospitals hiring many nurses assistants and licensed vocational nurses, among other positions. However, because Angelenos are not necessarily trained to perform such jobs, these hospitals advertise out of state and sometimes overseas.

The purpose of Vernon-Central Center is to produce employees in Los Angeles who can fill needed positions in growing sectors.

The Workforce Development Department has also launched a JobsLA.org, a new website providing free resources to any and all job seekers and employers with access to a computer. Garcetti said that there are currently more than 120,000 positions listed on the website.

Job seekers can create and upload resumes and cover letters, find education and job opportunities, and research salaries, among other things.

Employers can list job openings, find and recruit applicants.

A total of $36 million in federal grants and other resources will be invested in the system, with a possibility of an additional $180 million throughout the next five years. Partial funding came from the US Department of Labor.

“I am extremely pleased that over $10 million came from US Department of Labor to LA Trade Technical College for the creation of this project, a project that marks another milestone in our efforts to address a high unemployment rate in South Los Angeles and neighboring communities,” Roybal-Allard said.