A Country Road to A Digital Highway

Transcription

1 A Country Road to A Digital Highway BEYOND TRADITIONAL JOB DEVELOPMENT PRESENTED BY MICHAEL DUMONT AND MAYOR JIM AZBILL AUGUST 16, 2011 ASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA

2 BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY ROADS

3 Perry County Road Network 22 MILES OFF THE INTERSTATE LEADING TO

4 Jobless rate in Perry County to over.

5 LOCAL LEADERS CONDUCT SWOT ANALYSIS September, 2008 Quality of Life Our people, our work ethic Low Crime Rate Low Taxes Engaged Leadership No 4 lane roads Limited resources Lack of skilled positions Limited retail services No ECD office No tourism initiative Creation of Arts District Initiate formal economic development program Available industrial facilities Inclusion in retire-tn site Loss of talented individuals Low cost county (LLC) Global economic pressures Unemployment Continues Digital Infrastructure Lacking Small county population

6 It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one that is most responsive to change. -Charles Darwin

7 TURNING WEAKNESSES INTO STRENGTHS Blooming Arts Festival Linden, Tennessee

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9 Linden Downtown Arts Initiative Perry County Pride Artist Sonny Davis BEFORE AFTER

10 Linden Downtown Arts Initiative Basket Fence Artist Ida Edwards

11 Moving Forward The summer youth program funded by Workforce Investment Act and the Linden downtown arts initiative created momentum in Perry county. However, Perry County was still lacking jobs. VisionPerry took the initiative to continue to move forward

12 In January 2010, the VisionPerry Digital Factory, is started. Composed of two training elements: Customer Service Representative Training Computer Programming

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14 VisionPerry Training Center

15 VisionPerry Work Center

16 A few of our stories Julie Mayse Unemployed for over three years Has 1,500 hours of current training certificates in various fields Completed CSR training and hired within four weeks at VisionPerry Received her first paycheck in three years in December 2010 Works full-time at the VisionPery Center during the evening and weekend

17 In November 2010, working part-time at a fast food restaurant with no benefits Completed VisionPerry CSR training program Hired as a full-time call center representative Within 30 days, Kathryn was Working full-time Doubled her salary Receiving benefits Kathryn Knouse

18 Nathaniel Day I am one of a handful of people that have successfully completed VisionPerry's Computer Programming class. With no knowledge of the technologies that make up the internet, I began the four month trek through the unknown, after which I found myself at RuralJobs LLC. The job was waiting for me when my training was finished. Now I work with Microsoft's.NET technologies building a web application for a Major Company. I am familiar with PHP and MySql, HTML and CSS. After just four short months I have begun a career in a field that is dynamic and exciting. VisionPerry has helped me become successful by providing me with an opportunity that comes along few times in a person's life. They provided the education, the training materials, and the contacts who have provided me with a career that I am proud to have begun.

19 How many? How much? Customer Service Representatives hired by 3 companies Wage Scale $8-$20/hour some with full benefits Computer Programmers 15 completed training; 13 hired 2 companies Wage scale $26-$40k with full benefits Bricks & mortar company opening in Linden in September 75 to 100 more programmers to be hired in first year Regional expansion planned

20 Leveraging Our Resources Summer Youth to Jobs Training Public & Private Support Volunteers Town of Linden Support AT&T (Equipment Grant) TDS (Phone Lines) Fisher Company (Furniture) Career Center (WIA) Youth Eligibility & Wages Training Scholarships Software Licenses Current Funding Public & Private Support Volunteers Town of Linden Support Perry County Support AT&T & TDS TDLWD and ECD Career Center (WIA) Eligibility Recruitment Assessments (CRC; EI)

21 Moving Forward Training Career Center (WIA) TDECD TDLWD USDA Facilities & Equipment Local Government TVA Placement & Retention Corporate Partners

22 Call Center Partners with VisionPerry LiveOps and VisionPerry Create New Work Opportunities for Rural Tennessee Cloud Contact Center Technology Bolsters Employment Options SANTA CLARA, Calif., Jul 18, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- LiveOps, the leading provider of cloud contact center technology and talent, announced today that Vision Perry, a non-profit collaborative workforce development initiative in Perry County, Tennessee, has chosen to utilize the LiveOps platform to provide virtual work-from-home opportunities to help this rural area and surrounding counties offset the 20 percent unemployment rate. "Rural areas like Perry County are some of the hardest hit during difficult economic times. The citizens in these areas possess the drive, talent, and skills to work hard for any employer starting today. They deserve the opportunity to work. Our decision to work with LiveOps allows us to give hundreds of them that opportunity," said Michael Dumont, executive director of Vision Perry. "We are developing a 21st century workforce; not only for customer service but other 21st century positions.

23 Digital Factory Network-On the Move Expanding and opening new high-tech training & work centers in other rural counties Scaling to build regional capacity by developing company specific virtual in-house training Partnering with national companies to leverage our growth; filling hundreds of available positions Continuously exploring new opportunities and partnerships

24 Thanks to all our Partners

25 Contact Information For more information please contact: Michael Dumont Chief Executive Officer Tatiana Sankey Chief Operating Officer (931)