JobBRIEF: October Vol.4 Issue 10

Ashland Inc., located in Port Neches, is the 2013 Local Employer of Excellence Award recipient for
Workforce Solutions Southeast Texas. Ashland Inc. was nominated by staff of the Port Arthur
Workforce Center where the company’s HR director, Trudy Lord, worked closely with the
employment specialists to recruit and hire qualified workers.

Locally, Ashland has received recognition for their community involvement including a project
working with welding students at Port Neches-Groves ISD and participating in community
clean-up for Earth Day 2013.

Workforce development specialists join with the public education community to applaud the
passing of House Bill 5 by the Texas Legislature in June. Since 2007, Workforce Solutions
Southeast Texas, its local school district representatives and industry partners have studied
and discussed the impact of students participating in career vocational and technical
courses as part of developing a skilled workforce for industry. The traditional “four by four”
graduation program, consisting of four years of math, science, English, and social studies left
students who wanted technical careers, little to no flexibility to choose courses aligned with
their goals.

The Non-Custodial Parent (NCP) CHOICES program continues to work effectively to help people
successfully recover their lives financially and personally. It is important to note that the individuals
in the program are required to find and maintain employment for the purpose of making consistent
child support payments. While most of us have to deal with the occasional car trouble to get to
work, many of these individuals have significant barriers to overcome including incarceration, lack
of education, work skills or training, and transportation.

The booths are flying out of the door as more than 50 employers, veterans services providers and training institutions have signed on to participate in the 2013 Hiring Red, White and You! Veterans Job Fair.


	September Job Numbers for Texas are Delayed due to the Federal Shutdown. The September labor market data for Texas and Southeast Texas will be postponed from today’s scheduled release date due to the federal government shutdown. We will provide these numbers to you when they become available.