New Haven Works opens for business

New Haven Works celebrates its official opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday June 5 at  205 Whitney Ave.

A non-profit organization, New Haven Works was established as a joint project of the Board of Aldermen, the City of New Haven, employers, labor, and local residents. Among the employers involved are Yale University, Yale-New Haven Hospital, UIL Holdings, the City of New Haven, and the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce.

New Haven Works presents a local model for addressing a national problem: unemployment and underemployment in urban areas. Through agreements with employers and ongoing case management, New Haven Works will provide the tools that businesses and institutions need to ease the recruitment of local candidates and ensure that New Haven residents receive the support and preparation needed to be ready to work in today’s competitive job market — creating a local “jobs pipeline.”

The event is free and open to the public; doors will open at 2:15 p.m., and a short program of speeches will take place at 2:30 p.m., followed by a ribbon-cutting. Attendees include Governor Dannel Malloy; Attorney General George Jepsen; Yale University President-elect Peter Salovey; Mayor John DeStefano; Jorge Perez, chair of New Haven Works’ board of directors and president of the Board of Aldermen; Tony Rescigno, president of the Greater New Haven Chamber of Commerce; and participants in New Haven Works’ pilot project who can share their experiences and answer questions.

“The New Haven Works candidates we have placed through the initial program are talented and well-prepared for working at Yale. New Haven Works and Yale’s New Haven Hiring Initiative are great ways of finding the best local applicants and making the University more accessible to the New Haven community,” said Salovey, a resident of the city for more than 30 years.

According to Rescigno, “New Haven Works is bringing an unprecedented opportunity for regional employers to hire qualified local residents. We will save companies thousands of dollars in costs and guarantee a well-trained workforce that will attract new businesses to the area.”

Major donors to New Haven Works include Yale University, UNITE HERE, the City of New Haven, and the Economic Development Corporation of New Haven; additional funding comes from UIL Holdings and private foundations.

About New Haven Works

New Haven Works is a non-profit job matching agency that collaborates with employers to match qualified, job-ready New Haven applicants to meet employers’ needs. Established in March 2013 on the recommendation of a working group convened by the New Haven Board of Aldermen, New Haven Works brings together employers, government, labor, and community leaders to connect employers to pre-screened applicants and New Haven residents to good jobs.