Mercer County has just been approved to participate in a Youth Works initiative that provides job opportunities for 16-24 year old Mercer County youth (with the majority ages 16-18).

If your company can provide work experience opportunities to help our youth build the skills necessary for success in school and future employment, please take advantage of this opportunity. The youth will be available to work 30-35 hours per week from Wednesday, July 7 to Friday, August 27, 2010 at no cost to your company.  We have 266 young adults that have registered for this program and are excited to work this summer.

The One-Stop will select and match the youth to your job description.  We will also be responsible for payroll and insurance. Your responsibility will be to provide adequate supervision, meaningful work, and adherence to applicable Child Labor Laws.

If you have participated in prior summer youth employment programs sponsored by the County, you know that this is a great opportunity to impact a young person’s life. We are committed to ensuring that Youth Works is successful both for you in securing the staff assistance you need, and for our young people in securing the job they need.

Please see the information below for details. We would appreciate a quick response  as time is of the essence. Thank you for your collaboration.

Paula Hartman, Vice-Chair, Mercer County Workforce Investment Board

If your company is able to provide work experiences for youth for a minimum of 4 hours daily, please complete the requested information below to receive a worksite packet.

Submission of a worksite packet does not guarantee program participation.

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COMPANY:

Address:

City:                              Zip:              Fax:

Contact Person:                              Title:

Telephone:                          Email:

Estimated # of Positions:              Is company on a NJ Transit bus route?  □ Yes   □  No

Types of Positions:  □ Office  □ Maintenance □  Other ___________________________________________
Job Description: ____________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________

Fax to (609) 292-8915

For Additional Information Contact
Bob DePula (609) 989-6200; bdepula@mercercounty.org or Kassia Switlik Bukosky (609) 989-6201; kbukosky@mercercounty.org

YOUTH WORKS QUICK FACT SHEET
Hours, Pay and Related Work Conditions

• All youth in this program will be paid by the Mercer County One-Stop Career Center

• Youth’s weekly hours can range from 20-35 hours, based on employers’ need

• Summer work assignments can last from 6-8 weeks, based on company and youth needs

Youth Population

• Mercer County residents  ♦  Ages 16-24 (majority 16-18)

Worksites Eligible to Apply

• Private sector employers with an office in Mercer County

Work Assignments

• The One-Stop will select and match the youth to your job description.

Supervision

• Worksites are responsible for assigning a supervisor to all youth utilizing existing staff; the program will not provide subsidies for staff

• Some of the supervisor’s responsibilities include distributing daily assignments, evaluating work performance, reviewing and signing time records for attendance/punctuality accuracy

• All worksite supervisors will have access to a One-Stop counselor to help familiarize them with the program, child labor laws, paperwork and related requirements

Counseling Support

• Each employer/youth will be assigned a One-Stop counselor who will be responsible for timesheet pickup, check delivery, and act as liaison between One-Stop and employer

Restrictions:

• Job duties assigned to youth must conform to allowable work activities under NJ and Federal Child Labor Laws.  Other restrictions include but are not limited to prohibition against:

• Participating in religious/sectarian activities (including maintenance on a place of sectarian instruction or religious workshop

• Participating in political/campaigning activities
• Displacing workers on a full-time payroll*
• Filling vacancies that exist or are created by the lay-off of full-time employees

• Entities whose full-time workforce is covered under a collective bargaining agreement must receive concurrent on participation in this Youth Program from their presenting union(s).

ABS Employees at the 2010, Anual 200 Club Lucheon.

6/9/10, 200 Club Luncheon

Karla

ABS has been working with associations and other non-profit organizations for the past eight years. It has been incredibly rewarding and that is why we are so excited about our new NJGreenPower energy program with Viridian.

A new change in energy regulations allows commercial and residential customers to purchase the “generation portion” of their energy bill from other sources at wholesale prices.  This will take effect May, 2010 (possibly June). 

NJGreenPower offers ABS clients the opportunity to:

• Reduce electric bills by up to 30%
• Increase the amount of green energy used
• Generate revenue for underfunded programs

New Jersey Energy Issues:

• NJ utilities are not allowed to profit from the generation portion of your electric bill.  This is why they encourage businesses and residents to switch suppliers.
  

• You will still receive the same bill from JCP&L or PSE&G. The switch is completely transparent to you, outside of a 3rd party energy supplier listed at the bottom of your utility bill, and of course a much lower payment.

• Your Reliability and Emergency Repair remain the responsibility of JCP&L or PSE&G and are 100% unaffected!!!

• The Federal Government has goals of the U.S. being 20% green by the year 2020 according to the the 2020 RPS (Renewable Portfolio Standard). The New Jersey Utilities are using less than 8% green energy, which gives us 12% green to make up.

• Less than 2% of New Jersey have switched to a 3rd Party Energy Provider. In other words… More than 98% of us are paying retail for brown energy instead of wholesale for green energy.

The idea of utilizing renewable energy to improve profit margins is a unique opportunity in the state of New Jersey because until recently we only had the option to pay retail for electricity. Residential and commercial customers will now save up to 30% off their electric bill as they become more environmentally friendly by using energy created by solar and wind sources.

ABS provides non-profits and government agencies with all the information required to maximize the savings for their members, residents and businesses!

Ready to get started? Contact Karla Pollack or Paula Hartman at (609) 392-3800 or NJGreenPower@liveviridian.com.

www.Viridian.com/NJGreenPower

NJGreenPower Info Page (pdf)