County offers second round of help for employers to provide jobs

February 16, 2011

Local employers can get a little help adding new jobs thanks to Solano County's Create Jobs program.

"Local companies want to expand their businesses, create jobs and get our economy moving," said Supervisor Mike Reagan, Chairman of the Board of Supervisors. “We want them to do so as well and the Create Jobs program gives them a little extra incentive to add jobs now.”

The subsidized employment effort is a re-start of a similar initiative implemented last year with federal American Recovery and Investment Act funding. In that effort, 27 residents were placed in jobs with 14 employers. At the end of the six-month program, 18 of the participants remained employed.

“We are hoping the program will be even more successful this year,” said Christiana Smith, Health and Social Services deputy director for employment and eligibility services.  “Local employers have already seen that they get much more than a subsidy. They also receive an array of services to ensure new hires are successful.”

Federal and state CalWORKs dollars are funding Solano County’s Create Jobs program.

Any employer in Solano County can participate if they hire new employees in new jobs for at least 20 hours per week.  Employers will be reimbursed for 80 percent of wage costs up to $16 per hour.  The employer must be able to document that supervisory and training costs equal 25 percent of the subsidized wage costs, and that these costs are not paid from federal funds.

Potential employees under the program are people already participating in CalWORKs. CalWORKs participants should contact their employment services worker to sign up for this program. 

Employers interested in participating in the program should e-mail [email protected], call (707) 553-5173, or go to www.solanocounty.com/createjobs.