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Evanston staff summarize workforce programs, including new Tech All Stars internship
Summary
City staff presented the Social Services Committee with an overview of the city’s workforce-development offerings — Grow, Aspire, Emerge, a local paid internship program and a new Tech All Stars internship for 16–18-year-olds.
City staff briefed the Evanston Social Services Committee on March 13 about five workforce-development efforts that connect residents to employers and training, including a new youth tech internship program.
The city’s workforce portfolio includes a platform called Grow that posts job openings and links job seekers with staff case-management help; Aspire and Emerge health-care partnerships; a local employment program that provides two-year paid internships for entry-level labor with the city; and Tech All Stars, a new information-technology internship targeting 16- to 18-year-olds.
“Grow is not a program necessarily. It’s more of a connection platform,” a staff member said while walking the committee through the offerings. Staff said the city contracts some services for Grow rather than providing all services in-house. The presenter said Aspire works with North Shore (the hospital system) and Emerge works with a senior-care network across seven states.
Staff reported that Tech All Stars is in its ramp-up phase and that the program ran a small first round over spring break with seven interns. Committee members asked about age ranges and how training programs might reach not only youth but older residents seeking career-track positions.
Committee members also discussed the city’s pilot guaranteed-income program, which staff said was renewed for a second year after an initial ARPA-funded pilot and a partnership with Northwestern. Staff cited a $500 payment amount for that program, noting it targets families with young children in District 65.
Members asked staff to return again with details that would help align workforce efforts with the committee’s grant priorities, particularly for older job seekers and for supports that help participants complete internships and apprenticeship tests.
