By Nikki Georges-Clapp, Senior Project Manager
Nervous laughter, smiles, visible excitement, deep breaths, and squeals of delight. Those are just some of the sights and sounds from six days of pre-screening events and interviews for local area residents conducted by Central Amusement International (CAI) and Sodexo in Coney Island last March. These events were part of our HireNYC program, which helps connect local workers to job opportunities in their communities.
What’s the most exciting part of HireNYC? By Memorial Day weekend, when Luna Park and Scream Zone open their doors for the full summer season, over 300 New Yorkers will have a full-time job for the summer with thanks to this program. During these tough economic times with unemployment trends dipping slowly, programs like HireNYC take on critical importance.
HireNYC began as a study originally proposed in 2006. Cities across the country were implementing “first source hiring” programs as a means of turning real estate development projects into job opportunities for local residents. New York City policymakers and agency leaders decided to adopt many of the country’s best practices, creating a customized program. Through an innovative partnership between NYCEDC and the Department of Small Business Services (SBS), the HireNYC program launched in 2008. By including workforce development targets in Request for Proposals (RFPs) released by NYCEDC, there is a formal mechanism in place to ensure that New York City residents have access to the current and future permanent jobs in their communities. Over the past three years, the program has grown exponentially and has been included in numerous RFPs, neighborhood-wide development projects, and as part of the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) incentives package for supermarket operators.
The HireNYC events in Coney Island in March were made possible through a collaborative partnership among NYCEDC’s HireNYC program, New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), and Coney Island Development Corporation (CIDC). Instrumental to these efforts were also the numerous community-based organizations located in Coney Island who have been invaluable workforce development partners. The primary objective of these grassroots activities is to connect local residents to real estate development projects and help people most closely impacted by the projects directly access the benefits of the developments.
