FHREB Announces One-stop Career Center Service Provider

GREENFIELD — The Franklin Hampshire Regional Employment Board (FHREB) announced that the Franklin Hampshire Employment and Training Consortium (FHETC) in Greenfield has been selected to provide one-stop career-center services to Franklin and Hampshire counties and the North Quabbin region for the next four years, through June 2022.

The federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act requires that resources to serve disadvantaged adults, dislocated workers, and youth through public employment centers be put out to bid every four years. Prospective providers must submit a detailed plan for marketing, recruitment, assessment, training, and placement of job seekers, as well demonstrate solid and successful experience working with target populations including but not limited to veterans, people with disabilities, and those on transitional assistance.

A team of local partners and REB members from the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission, senior-employment-service programs, the Literacy Project, and several other organizations, as well as private-sector employers and state organizations, developed the request for proposals and conducted the review process. A final recommendation was made to the mayors of Greenfield and Northampton, the lead elected officials for the Franklin-Hampshire workforce region, who accepted the recommendation.

“FHETC has been providing related services for years and could have rested on their laurels and submitted a business-as-usual proposal,” said FHREB Director Patricia Crosby. “But the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act has a heightened emphasis on demand-driven services and customer-centered design. The FHETC management team took on the new challenges and responded with creativity and gusto. We think area employers and job seekers will continue to greatly benefit from their responsiveness.”