Mayor Greets Youth and Employers at Summer Career Fair

Baltimore, MD – On Tuesday, May 13, 2003, Mayor Martin O’Malley, State Senator Nathaniel J. McFadden, Karen Sitnick, director of the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, and James Hamlin, a UPS executive and chair of YouthWorks 2003, toured the YouthWorks Career Fair 2003 at M&T Bank Stadium. At this event almost 400 youth were interviewed by more than 50 businesses and organizations seeking summer workers. Participating businesses and organizations included Southwest Airlines, Aramark Corporation, Target, Baltimore Development Corporation, Women Accepting Responsibility, Ride the Ducks, National Aquarium in Baltimore, Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel, CVS, Mercy Medical Center, St. Joseph Medical Center and MBNA.

“Youth participating in the Career Fair were 16 to 21-year-olds who successfully completed 12 hours of work readiness training or who were certified as work-ready by their schools,” said Alice Cole, MOED’s project director for career development services. “Additional interviews of youth by dozens of other employers will take place over the next few weeks. Youth – ages 14 to 21 – who want to participate in the program have until May 30 to register for YouthWorks, and they can do that at MOED’s One-Stop Career Centers throughout the community.”

“YouthWorks is important,” said Sitnick, “because it allows Baltimore’s youth an opportunity to explore career interests, develop skills, meet mentors and connect classroom learning to real-life experiences. Businesses gain from YouthWorks by helping to shape the city’s future workforce. We urge still more businesses to participate in the program – by hiring youth or making cash contributions. The more we can engage youth, the healthier and stronger our neighborhoods and our future workforce becomes.”

During fiscal year 2002, in addition to placing 5,502 city teens in summer jobs, MOED served 15,237 city residents through its One-Stop Career Centers, placed 6,055 city residents (including more than 500 welfare recipients) in jobs with an average hourly wage of $8.84, assisted 584 employers in recruiting workers, and opened five Digital Learning Labs.