Ready to Work is the Bridge to Belief:

• Belief in every person’s ability to contribute;
• Belief in every person’s right to pursue happiness;
• Belief in the value of traditional and non-traditional education; and
• Belief that we all have the power to change the future when we work together.

From the desk of Mike Ramsey, Executive Director of the City of San Antonio's Workforce Development Office

I hope you’re rested and recently enjoyed some time off with friends and family. With the unofficial end of summer behind us, and the start of cooler weather (hopefully) around the corner, it’s time to reflect on the many opportunities we’ve had to showcase Ready to Work this year. It’s also a great time to look ahead to new moments, connections and ways to position this dynamic initiative as the country’s premiere municipal workforce development program that’s doing incredible things for the people in our community.

Already, Ready to Work has garnered local, regional and national attention from those who are leaders in the workforce development arena, all the way up to policy makers at the federal level. From Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to the Department of Labor, the nation is taking a look at our efforts in creating a more talented and skilled workforce – comprised of all ages and genders, who are construction trades and extraction workers, heating, air conditioning and refrigeration workers, accountants and bookkeepers, first-line supervisors, dental assistants, paramedics and others on the front line of health care, engineers and machinists and those in the professional services sector like teachers, police officers and data scientists. These jobs are just the tip of the iceberg. With over 900 courses offered in our course catalog through local training providers, there is literally a pathway for everyone.

Recently, U.S. Representative Henry Cuellar announced that his office is bringing $1.3 million to San Antonio and South Texas for union apprenticeship programs in his district. Apprenticeships are perhaps the oldest form of workforce development that passed down knowledge and skill to younger generations. Today they remain a fundamental way to “earn while you learn,” gaining specialized skills while getting paid.

As I mentioned, it’s a great time to look ahead for new opportunities with Ready to Work’s second full year kicking off this summer. Currently, our Workforce Development team is leveraging the program with applications and collaborations for federal dollars with workforce initiatives such as the Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All initiative, which will award up to 60 grants to expand the residential solar investments in low-income and disadvantaged communities. There are many others as well, including the U.S. Economic Development Administration’s Tech Hubs, designed to drive regional technology and innovation growth by strengthening an area’s capacity to manufacture, commercialize and deploy critical technologies. We’re working with the National Youth Employment Commission to serve our young people who are out of school, and also out of work.

Over at the Department of Transportation, we’re looking at a grant possibility called the Reconnecting Communities Pilot Program to restore community connectivity by removing, retrofitting or mitigating highways or other obstacles that stand in the way of community connectivity, which includes barriers to mobility, access and economic development.

These are several examples of how Ready to Work stands poised to lead in making these networking connections that create opportunities for people. We will aim for goals that are not only viable and equitable, but also realistic and impactful.

With sincere gratitude,

Mike Ramsey

September Is National Workforce Development Month

It’s September, and that means it’s National Workforce Development Month!

We sing the praises of our partners and participants, employers and case managers. Now it’s time to talk about some of the wonderful folks on our own Workforce Development Office (WDO) team. They go above and beyond and are true professionals in the areas of data science, catalog development and maintenance, community engagement and outreach, employer engagement, finance, compliance and beyond. Every day they are coming up with new ways to connect San Antonians to important training and education pathways to help them directly with the Ready to Work mission: gain better paying, higher quality jobs.

Workforce Development Month began in 2005 by the National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP). The goal is to raise awareness about the industry professionals behind the scenes that play an important role in growing industries, and subsequently, the national economy.

Workforce development professionals lay the groundwork, providing critical links between the people, employment opportunities and training programs they need to succeed in those industries. Professionals doing this work are also important because they are the liaisons between our local community members and policymakers who create the framework for workforce development. We work well with people in cross-sections of the economic stratosphere, so it’s important that we know, connect with and develop those relationships to the best of our ability so that we can work harmoniously together for the benefit of everyone in our society.

Happy Workforce Development Month and tell someone you know in any of these areas how proud you are of their work!

Participant Highlight - Patricia Saldivar-Lopez

At 57 years old, Patricia Saldivar-Lopez is heading back to work. She stopped working about a decade ago to care for her ailing mother, as well as her husband who underwent liver transplant surgery just a few years into their marriage.

Saldivar-Lopez didn’t think twice about having to take time away from work. But it was back in April that the District 3 resident saw a post on Facebook about Ready to Work. With her husband’s encouragement, Saldivar-Lopez applied to be a part of the program. Her background is in medical records before everything became digitized. This time, she sought a certification in the Electronic Medical Specialist pathway. It wasn’t long before she found out she qualified and decided to go for it!
“My husband stepped up to take care of the household duties so I could focus on my school,” she said. “Ready to Work helped me build my self-esteem while at the same time giving me the opportunity to make better money and support my family.”
Saldivar-Lopez will soon graduate with her certificate from Texas A&M University San Antonio, a proud Ready to Work training partner. She’s got a 95 Grade Point Average even with material that was only somewhat familiar to her coming into the program. She found the mathematics and terminology challenging but has made the most of her studies and class time. She’s an optimist with the spirit of a quick learner.
“I’ve been a good example to my family that it’s never too late to make changes to improve oneself,” she said. “I had a lot of self-doubt at first, especially at my age, and I wasn’t even sure I’d qualify. But God inspired me to be prepared going forward in my life.”
The emotional toll of losing her mother, and caring for her husband at the same time, could have been reason enough for Saldivar-Lopez not to seek something better for herself. But she took the initiative, found confidence in herself and improved her quality of life in the process.
Saldivar-Lopez talks about Ready to Work with her friends and family. She knows it’s a decision that each person must make for themselves. But she promises that there is guidance, support and financial help through Ready to Work.

“For myself, there was a light at the end of the tunnel for going back to work and getting out of low-income status,” she said. “Now I’m excited to be able to take vacations once in a while, go out to eat, go to the movies – the simple things that I couldn’t do before. When you’re on a limited income, it all goes toward bills so the last part of the month we really struggled. Things like just going out to eat will be a real treat and luxury for us now.”
If your decisions lead you toward Ready to Work, applying is easy! Call 311 or go to readytoworksa.com.

San Antonio Snapshots

Have you visited Port San Antonio lately? The Boeing Center is a great place to catch a rock concert; just ask Port San Antonio Executive VP of Government Affairs and RTW Community Outreach Subcommittee member Juan Antonio Flores for his band recommendations!

But Ready to Work is also lucky to count several Port San Antonio businesses amongst its pledged employers: Accenture Federal Services, Boeing, Knight Aerospace, StandardAero, and the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Our Ready to Work Partner Agencies AVANCE, Dynamic Advancement and Workforce Solutions Alamo also have offices at the Port. All around, it’s a wonderful place to work and play!

Ready to Engage

Upcoming Events

Ready to Work is reaching into the community throughout San Antonio to ensure the program is a success. Whether you are a community-based organization who wants to leverage Ready to Work to assist your client, or a business owner interested in taking the Employer Pledge, there is a place for you at the table. Below is a partial list of upcoming events. If you are interested in having Ready to Work be a part of one of your events, please contact rtw.help@sanantonio.gov.

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