The Rhode Island Foundation has put $630,000 into its belief that intensified collaborations among movers and doers can “Make It Happen” – “It” to include lowering the state’s stubbornly high unemployment rate, raising the household median income and closing education, employment and income gaps across the state. more

Rhode Island lawmakers hope a federal spending bill expected to be approved last week will allow the national Job Corps workforce-development program to soon start accepting new enrollees. A national freeze on enrollment following budget shortfalls could keep as many as 100 Rhode Island at-risk youths from gaining education and vocational training if it lasts until the current June 30 projection. more

Just a year ago, Stephanie Hebert was a long-term unemployed woman in her mid-20s without a college education or high school diploma – exactly the population at risk for chronic joblessness and public-assistance dependence. more

Dennis Fernandez thought he knew how to properly navigate his job search. more

Bel Air Finishing Supply in North Kingstown first tapped state professional-development grants five years ago when the company was making a push for exports and needed to train workers in overseas marketing. more

A group of human resource executives from five Massachusetts biotechnology companies gathered Tuesday to brainstorm how to better prepare military veterans for jobs in the sector, according to the Boston Business Journal. more

Women-owned businesses in Rhode Island are not growing at the rate as those in the rest of the country. Even more alarming, while the number of businesses is growing at that slower pace, the number of people employed by women-owned companies has actually shrunk since 1997, according to a survey by American Express. more

The danger with workforce-development efforts focusing too much on industries that require extensive education and training is that many of those who have been hurt most by the Great Recession are in danger of being left behind as the state slowly climbs its way back. more

To the Editor: The Governor’s Workforce Board (GWB) deeply appreciates the vote of support for job training expressed in the PBN’s editorial entitled “Broad job training efforts a good sign” (4/15/13). The editorial specifically commends the GWB for two grants recently awarded to Amos House in Providence and Connecting Children and Families in Woonsocket to partner with employers in the food-service industry to train 120 homeless, unemployed and underemployed Rhode Islanders. These awards were two of 10 Innovative Partnership grants – totaling nearly $2 million – that were announced in March by Gov. Lincoln D. Chafee to support innovative business-education partnerships that will prepare unemployed Rhode Islanders with the skills that businesses need to fill current and future vacancies in high-growth occupations and industries. more

When she was one of 15 bank employees laid off from her job processing transactions on customer accounts, 52-year-old Margarita Feliciano decided to go back to the work she enjoyed when she was in her 20s – taking care of patients in their homes. more