(WASHINGTON, DC) – Mayor Vincent C. Gray today announced a grant award to DB Grant Associates, Inc. to serve as the DC Workforce Intermediary Pilot Program’s Hospitality Job Placement Partner. The grant will support services to both employers and jobseekers in placing 200 eligible unemployed or underemployed District residents in eligible hospitality industry employment. The grant is part of the larger Workforce Intermediary Pilot Program that is intended to help strengthen the District’s job training and employment services in key economic sectors, and is aligned with the District’s Five-Year Economic Development Strategy and Integrated Workforce Plan.
“Establishing a Hospitality Job Placement Partner is an important investment in our workforce system that will benefit District residents and businesses,” said Mayor Vincent C. Gray. “My administration remains fully committed to putting District residents back to work and giving them the skills they need to prosper.”
Workforce Investment Council Chairman Mike Harreld added: “Sector-based workforce strategies such as the Workforce Intermediary are a national best practice in workforce development, and I’m pleased to fulfill the commitment made in the District’s strategic plan for workforce development to bring this model to the District of Columbia.”
“The hospitality sector is a significant part of the city’s economy, and we anticipate continued growth that is likely to lead to increased employment opportunities,” said Solomon Keene, President of the Hotel Association of Washington, DC. “I’m pleased to see this investment in preparing DC residents for jobs in this industry.”
DB Grant Associates, Inc. has over 16 years of experience in the workforce development field and sector-based employment, including successfully placing over 1,000 jobseekers in the hospitality industry through a sector-based program in New York. They are also active in District-based job placement efforts through the Department of Human Services’ Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Employment Program, and have extensive hospitality industry relationships both locally and nationally. DB Grant Associates Inc. is eligible to receive up to $840,000 through this grant if the company successfully meets performance outcomes, which comprise 70 percent of the total grant award.
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