Winnemucca News

Winnemucca News

Winnemucca JOIN office welcomes a new branch manager - 03-22-2010

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WINNEMUCCA — There’s a new Branch Manager at the local office of JOIN (Job Opportunities in Nevada) with a very familiar face. Joyce Moore took over managing the office after the 2009 retirement of Jackie Kearns – but don’t expect too many drastic changes. Moore said the office will go on as it always has, training and educating people to compete in an ever-changing jobs market.

Moore has been connected to JOIN since 1985 when she entered the front door as a client. With her children in school and relatively self-sufficient, Moore decided to pursue her GED and later her Adult High School Diploma. Although she finally went to work in an office, it wasn’t too long before Moore was back at JOIN and working the front desk.

Much has changed at JOIN since those early days, including going from an office that had one dual-floppy disk computer to entering the internet computer age.  A year after Moore went to work for JOIN, Jackie Kearns became the manager. 

Moore explained that before Kearns the goal was to get the clients in and then out again as quickly as possible with a job.  Kearns expanded the program to include education, though employment remained and remains the overall goal.  At that time Moore was still at the front desk, but she took on additional duties including teaching in-house classes, in addition to manning the front desk, and was then promoted to case manager and began managing cases.

Moore praised the work done by her predecessor and said, “Jackie was always one to see the potential in people.”

The programs have also changed due to the increased need for technology-literate workers and the push for green jobs, which requires a workforce educated in renewable energy and energy conservation. As an example, Moore noted even construction jobs require an understanding of efficient energy use, which was evident during the 2009 summer when young people in the JOIN summer program were put to work refurbishing the outside of the Winnemucca Domestic Violence Shelter.  Moore said, “It was quite the success.”

Otherwise, the program hasn’t changed much since 1985, although a rather large change occurred in the mid 1990’s when the Welfare Reform Act occurred and JOIN went from being under JTPA, (Job Training Partnership Act), to governance and financing under the new WIA (Workforce Investment Act).  This involved going from a public, federally funded agency, to a private, non-profit grant based business, still governed by federal rules and regulations. Moore commented, “We’re still trying to serve the needs of the community, and that hasn’t changed at all.”

Although she’s now the Branch Manager, Moore still carries a case load.  Having been at the job for 22 years she’s pretty comfortable with that aspect of the job.  However, the first time she had to sign time cards the reality of her new position hit home.  And while she maintains a good working relationship with her staff, she’s no longer just one of the girls, and that took some getting used to.

But some things don’t change and her goals are the same:  Giving people the tools they need to pursue jobs.  She remembers the many successes including the single moms who were given the opportunity to pursue economic independence, the young people who were able to obtain their GED’s and/or Adult High School Diplomas, the people who were laid off but were able to pursue new careers.

The person in the top job may have changed, but Moore assured the community JOIN will go on serving the needs of the community as it did before.

ABOUT JOIN:  The goal for all JOIN clients is to get them the training they need to get a job and be self-sufficient.  Even after JOIN clients go to work, the case manager will continue to follow up for 12 months afterwards with monthly contact.  If the client needs additional training on the job, or another service that will either keep them employed or possibly get a promotion, JOIN can provide for that under certain circumstances. 

Moore praises the staff at JOIN for its continued success. 

Fortunately, it appears as though JOIN will survive the bad economy and the budget cuts occurring at every level of government.  Moore explained the funding for the programs comes from the WIA (Workforce Investment Act), through a Request for Proposal process that involves writing a grant request for every category of eligibility, including Adults, Dislocated Workers, and Youth, and tends to see increased funding in bad economic times because the government recognizes the need for retraining when unemployment numbers are high.  NevadaWorks acts as the go-between for local offices and the federal government.  There are a total of 9 JOIN offices in Northern Nevada, including an arm of JOIN located in the Reno JOIN office, known as ProNet (Professionals Networking), that was specifically created to assist those in managerial fields who’ve been laid off, and is available to anyone in the northern part of the state that is served by JOIN.

There are some challenges to running a rural employment center.  With the biggest hurdle being distance from major training centers, although the local Great Basin College campus has been a huge asset to the community and has made a wide range of training much more available. 

Moore credits an excellent staff for JOIN’s continued success in putting people to work.  Ramona Raynor is a long-term case manager and is known for going the extra mile for her clients.  Joyce noted the hard work being done by teachers Kim Forney and Diana Padua – who last year guided 116 people through the GED and/or the Adult High School Diploma programs. Forney also travels to the Honor Camp twice a week to work with inmates who want to obtain their Adult Diplomas. And Les Warr who goes to the Honor camp 3 times a week to tutor inmates in GED subjects.

The program also receives a boost from Wendy Raynor, the Registrar of the GED and Adult High School Diploma program.  In addition to managing the transcripts, an essential duty if the program is going to remain accredited, Raynor teaches some key classes in Business Office Technology and Accounting Techniques.

For more information on JOIN visit their website:  www.join.org

Written by Dee Holzel - Silver Pinyon Journal - 3/22/10

• Winnemucca News