CONTACT: LINDA NGUYEN, 253.254.7607
TACOMA, WA – Increasing graduation rates often boils down to whether students see their classwork as a path to a career that interests them. WorkForce Central invests in CareerLink Pierce County—a web-based tool that introduces students and young adults to career paths in a variety of fields. Since its adoption three years ago, it has helped hundreds of young people connect course work to career paths.
This week, State Farm announced an investment in the CareerLink program that will open up opportunities to expand it to more school districts in Pierce County. State Farm has partnered with WorkForce Central to fund the tool in the past.
“State Farm’s ongoing support lets us reach farther into the community so that the tool is widely available across Pierce County,” said Linda Nguyen, CEO at WorkForce Central. “We are very grateful for their ongoing support—it has real impacts on our future workforce.”
“Making sure the next generation has tools to plan their future is really important to us, and that’s why we continue to support programs like CareerLink,” said Ty Cordova of State Farm. “Students learn differently now than they did twenty or thirty years ago. We admire WorkForce Central and their ability to deploy technology that young adults will use.”
CareerLink’s business portal creates a safe space through which young adults can learn about local businesses, become familiar with the many careers these businesses offer, seek internship and summer job opportunities, and interact with professionals to learn what it’s like to work in the industry and what it takes to get a job there.
“We often hear from employers that they want to reach young people sooner in their careers, in high school ideally,” said Linda Nguyen, CEO at WorkForce Central. “CareerLink is one way to do it, and we’d love to see more businesses participate.”
Businesses are encouraged to participate in CareerLink and can register online at workforce-central.org/CareerLink.
WorkForce Central strengthens the Pierce County economy by identifying skill gaps between jobseekers and employment opportunities, fostering data-driven decision making, and connecting workforce development partners into a cohesive, collaborative and effective network.
