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MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center, Workforce Board Merge

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Daily News

GREENFIELD — The MassHire Franklin Hampshire Career Center and the MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board announced their official merger effective July 1, characterizing the strategic unification as a significant milestone in the region’s efforts to deliver more coordinated, efficient, and impactful workforce development services across Franklin County, Hampshire County, and the North Quabbin region.

The newly merged organization — now operating as MassHire Franklin Hampshire — will streamline operations and enhance services for job seekers, employers, training providers, and community partners. By combining the strategic oversight and policy leadership of the Workforce Board with the direct services and employer engagement expertise of the Career Center, MassHire Franklin Hampshire aims to be positioned to respond to the region’s evolving labor market needs with agility and purpose.

“This merger relects our shared commitment to strengthening our region’s economy by making workforce services more seamless and responsive,” said Sarah Wilson, executive director of MassHire Franklin Hampshire. “By bringing together strategy and service delivery under one roof, we can better align training and employment pathways with the real needs of local employers and job seekers.”

The merged organization will continue to operate offices in Greenfield and Northampton, while deepening its partnerships with local schools, businesses, economic development agencies, and social service providers. MassHire Franklin Hampshire remains committed to advancing equitable access to high-quality jobs, especially for populations facing systemic barriers to employment.

“The merger is a natural next step in the evolution of our work,” said Allison van der Velden, chair of the MassHire Franklin Hampshire board of directors. “It strengthens our ability to deliver results and ensures that public workforce dollars are used efficiently, effectively, and equitably.”

MassHire Franklin Hampshire will continue to be part of the statewide MassHire network, connecting people to jobs and employers to talent across the Commonwealth.

Local Students Learn about Life After High School at Reality Fair

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Daily News

HADLEY — UMassFive College Federal Credit Union, Greenfield Community College (GCC), and MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board recently partnered to hold a Reality Fair for more than 70 students from Pioneer, Mohawk, and Athol high schools.

Reality Fair is an immersive budgeting exercise for high school students, allowing them to envision their life at age 25. During the event, students chose a career they are interested in and were assigned a salary connected with that field, including their take-home pay after taxes. Using that figure, students visit booths where volunteers offer life choices on various expenses, including housing, insurance, transportation, food, retirement, and more.

The volunteers engage with the students, sometimes emulating sales culture by encouraging students to make emotional (and expensive) choices. Each student managed their budget with simulated checking and saving accounts and credit cards. Once students worked through their budget, they met one-on-one with a financial coach from UMassFive to discuss their experience and gain additional financial education and insights.

“Many students have no grasp of how complicated making spending decisions can be,” said Cait Murray, Community Outreach manager at UMassFive. “Reality Fair is a vehicle to get students thinking about the weight of their choices in life, providing an opportunity to start applying financial wellness concepts at an early age.”

This event, held at Greenfield Community College, was supported by more than 30 volunteers from partnering organizations. In addition to Reality Fair, students learned about GCC, took a campus tour, and engaged in some workforce development-centered games.

MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board Partners with CareerVillage

By
Daily News

GREENFIELD — The MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board announced a new partnership with CareerVillage (careervillage.org). This collaboration will connect Franklin County and North Quabbin youth to local community professionals and industry leaders, helping them achieve their career goals and building the next generation of leaders.

The MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board will build on its work to support youth career development by partnering with CareerVillage, a 501(c)(3) open-access platform where learners can ask any question about any career. Each question is matched to one of more than 90,000 working professionals volunteering their time on the site. The organization’s unique model has enabled it to serve more than 5.5 million students worldwide with personalized career advice.

“Our young people need better tools and resources to boost their level of career readiness,” CareerVillage founder Jared Chung said. “The vast majority of youth who use careervillage.org found us on their own while they were searching the internet for basic career information. I’ve always believed that the public sector and workforce boards have a role to play in the lives of young people. I look forward to working with the MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board to reach and serve local youth as they prepare for their dream careers.”

As a MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board partner, CareerVillage will provide students with 24/7 access to career-planning activities and educators with free career curriculum and professional-development opportunities. This builds MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board leadership’s capacity to serve local youth and rallies the Franklin North Quabbin communities to engage in youth career development. By engaging entire ecosystems of localized support, CareerVillage helps students achieve financially stable careers and fortifies local economies.

“This is an exciting opportunity to bring national expertise in a wide range of industries right to the doorways of our student population,” said Rebecca Bialecki, executive director of the MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board.

For more information on CareerVillage, visit www.careervillage.org, or e-mail MassHire Franklin Hampshire Workforce Board School to Career Coordinator Laura Robinson at [email protected].