Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Workforce Development topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
City outlines mayor's summer youth internship; United Way offers to incorporate program into larger collective
Summary
City staff proposed a 20-student summer internship paying $12/hour and covering basic workforce literacy; United Way offered a collaborative alternative that would scale the effort and absorb the mayor's program into a larger $200,000 collective to serve many more youth.
City staff described a new internal summer youth internship for 20 high-school students, intended to provide on-the-job experience, workforce literacy and basic financial education. The program, scheduled for June 1'July 24, would pay participants $12 an hour for 30 hours per week; staff estimated $57,600 for 20 students split across two budget years.
"This here is our internal summer youth program," the staff presenter told the commission, outlining check-ins, project-based departmental assignments and a job fair set for May 2 to recruit participants. Staff emphasized partnerships with local institutions and volunteer training resources for mock interviews and resume help.
Orson Burton, president and CEO of the United Way of Southwest Georgia, urged a collaborative approach and offered to fold the mayor's 20-student program into the Albany Summer Collective, a larger city-county-school-private sector initiative the United Way is proposing. Burton said combining resources would produce greater scale and lower per-student cost. "How about we take the mayor's Albany 100 exactly as proposed, for funded fully at the $57,600 price point and incorporated collaboratively in the Albany Summer Collective," Burton said.
Commissioners asked staff to coordinate with county, school and nonprofit partners and to return with clear options and cross-organizational coordination plans. Staff said the city can absorb the initial $28,800 in the current budget and include the remaining $28,800 in the next fiscal year; staff and commissioners emphasized the importance of aligning schedules, transportation and drug-screening logistics.
Next steps: staff will continue outreach to county, school and community partners, and report back with options for coordination and potential grant funding to expand employer participation.
