Senator Coons applauds launch of new company employing former foster care youth

WILMINGTON, Del. – Senator Coons joined Governor Markell, Congressman Carney, and local community leaders Thursday for the grand opening of popdot, a new sign production and installation company in Wilmington’s West End neighborhood that has committed to hiring disadvantaged youth.

The business was launched as a partnership between Sir Speedy Wilmington and West End Neighborhood House – with help from a $160,000 Community Economic Development Projects (CED) grant from the Department of Health and Human Services – and is dedicated to providing career opportunities for former foster care youth in Wilmington.

Danielle Cunningham is one such youth, who shared the story of her journey after aging out of the foster care system and finding herself homeless at age 18. Danielle took advantage of housing through West End Neighborhood House and job training opportunities at Wilmington's Bright Spot Ventures and is now beginning her career as a popdot employee.

 “What was most striking to hear from you, Danielle, was that this is a place where you can work together, and not just have great skills, not just have an opportunity at employment, but have a family, have a place where at work you are sharing with each other your values and your journey,” Chris said.

popdot is one of just 20 ventures across the country to submit a successful competitive CED grant application this year. The objective of the CED program is to support businesses that develop new products and services and create jobs for low-income individuals. To meet these goals, popdot has pledged to employ 75 percent low-income staff, provide full-time jobs with benefits that pay livable wages, and reinvest 51 percent of its profits into the community.

“Many of us recognize that it is small business owners, its entrepreneurs, its people who work hard day in and day out who create most of the jobs in our country and who are the real engines of vitality in our communities,” Chris said. 

Senator Coons welcomes Kent County jobseekers to first job fair of 2014

More than 1,000 jobseekers packed in to the Education Technology Building Conference Center at Delaware Technical Community College Terry Campus for the first job fair of the year hosted by U.S. Senators Chris Coons and Tom Carper, and U.S. Representative John Carney. The Kent County job fair brought more than 45 private and public entities together to meet candidates in hopes of filling over 500 open positions.

The Kent County job fair was organized with the help of Brandywine Counseling and Career Services, and service and government employment agencies were also on hand to facilitate job-search skills workshops, career counseling, and resume reviews. 

“Today was our 17th job fair and once again it was a great opportunity to connect Delawareans looking for work with prospective employers,” said Senator Carper. “While we still have too many of our friends and neighbors who are struggling to find work, I am heartened that we’re making progress and I’m hopeful that 2014 will be a positive year for job creation and economic growth here in the First State.”

“Thousands of Delawareans are still looking for work and these job fairs can make a real difference in our neighbors’ lives,” Senator Coons said. “Like the job fairs we hosted in the past, our goal for these fairs is to help Delawareans connect with real job opportunities, many of which are right here in their own backyard. Companies like Mountaire, Lowe’s, and Energizer were looking to fill hundreds of full-time positions.”

“Putting Delawareans back to work is my top priority.  There are still many qualified workers struggling to provide for themselves and their families,” said Congressman Carney.  “Many people left today with good information and connections that could lead to their next career move. That’s our main goal, and we’ll continue providing these opportunities throughout the year.” 

In 2013, the Delaware delegation hosted seven job fairs for more than 3,500 job seekers. Since 2011, the delegation has hosted 17 jobs fairs in Delaware, including four specifically for veterans.

Delaware volunteer firefighters welcome Affordable Care Act fix

Senator Coons shared good news with volunteer firefighters and first responders from across the state on Monday about a fix to the Affordable Care Act that will spare volunteer fire companies undue financial hardship.

After hearing concerns from the Delaware Volunteer Firefighter’s Association, Chris began pressuring the White House in December to clarify that volunteer firefighters would not be considered employees of volunteer fire companies under the Affordable Care Act, potentially triggering the law’s coverage mandate for businesses with more than 50 employees.

Last month, Chris cosponsored legislation to clarify the law and sent a letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew urging the administration to explore a fix for this issue independent of Congress. On Friday, Chris received a response from the Treasury Department announcing plans to issue new guidance to ensure volunteer emergency responders will not be counted as employees.

“Volunteer fire companies are an important part of the fabric of our communities,,” Chris said. “While the Affordable Care Act is already doing a lot of good for a lot of people, it isn’t perfect. This issue needed to be fixed so our volunteer fire companies can continue to do their life-saving work.” 

Delaware has more than 60 volunteer fire companies statewide, and most do not have the resources to provide pay or benefits to volunteers. The majority of volunteer first-responders have other full-time employment, and do not expect to receive compensation or health coverage as a result of their volunteer public service.

“Since Republicans’ commitment to repealing the law is making it impossible for us to repair the law, it was important for the President to step in,” Chris said. “I am still hopeful that Congress can come together to fix other issues with the Affordable Care Act that can only be repaired with legislation, but am grateful for the administration's action today.”

Video: Senate advances federal assistance for jobseekers

Senator Coons appeared on MSNBC on Tuesday to discuss the Senate’s vote to advance legislation extending federal unemployment insurance benefits for three months. Chris is a cosponsor of both the three-month extension advanced on Tuesday and a version of the legislation that would extend funding for a full year. Thirty-six hundred Delawareans lost their federal unemployment benefits on December 28th and another 4,800 are expected to lose them over the next six months if Congress does not pass an extension of the program.

Senator Coons, business leaders join efforts to boost hiring of veterans

Senator Coons was joined by JPMorgan Chase’s Director for Military and Veterans Affairs, Maureen Casey, at a roundtable discussion in the Capitol on Wednesday focused on initiatives to expand career opportunities for veterans. The meeting featured leaders from businesses and organizations that have demonstrated a strong commitment to employing veterans and providing them with the resources and support necessary for success.

Casey, who is based in Delaware, briefed senators on the company’s successful practice of hiring veterans as part of the 100,000 Jobs Mission, a coalition of companies committed to providing job opportunities for veterans. Other participants shared their perspectives on how private organizations can work with the Senate to strengthen programs that help veterans successfully transition to civilian employment. 

“America’s highly trained veterans bring valuable skills and experience to the civilian workforce,” Chris said. “Yet too many veterans come home to find their opportunities limited rather than enhanced by their time spent serving our nation. No veteran should return from defending our country abroad only to face unemployment or underemployment at home.”

At 10 percent, the national unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans is significantly higher than the overall national rate of 7.3 percent. In October, the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that 750,000 veterans were without jobs of approximately 11 million of working age.

Casey stressed the importance of continued partnership between the public and private sectors to position veterans for success in their post-military careers. “Veterans have the knowledge, skills and experience employers need, so hiring them isn’t just the right thing to do for veterans, it’s also the right thing to do for our business,” Casey said.

JPMorgan Chase has hired more than 6,000 veterans since 2011 as part of The 100,000 Jobs Mission. The mission, initially a coalition of 11 companies committed to hiring 100,000 veterans by 2020, and has since grown to 126 members and doubled its goal to hiring 200,000 veterans.

“Today’s discussion highlighted successful programs that have helped businesses, like JPMorgan Chase in Delaware, recruit more of our nation’s talented veterans,” Senator Coons said. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to build and expand upon these important efforts so we can get more of our veterans back to work.”

In budget conference, Senator Coons advocates for investments that sustain growth

At the second meeting of the budget conference committee Wednesday, Senator Coons questioned Congressional Budget Office Director Douglas Elmendorf about the impact of Congress’ current spending decisions on the nation’s economic competitiveness and the long-term unemployed.

 “You've testified before that not all cuts are the same, and that there are some ways in which we are cutting that are hurting our long-term competitiveness,” Senator Coons said. “That short-term cuts in things like education, or infrastructure, or research and development produce longer-term reductions in our capacity, and that we should be prioritizing things that will accelerate growth – that we should not be simply trying to get through this difficult fiscal time in a way that focuses on austerity; that we should also be investing in a way that sustains growth.”

When asked about policies that could accelerate growth and help the long-term unemployed, Director Elmendorf said, “Of all non-defense discretionary spending, half represents investment of some sort. About 20 percent of non-defense discretionary spending is investment in physical capital, such as highways, another 15 percent goes for education and training, and about 10 percent goes for R&D, such as health research. Over all, we think those investments help to build a stronger economy in the future and cutbacks in those investments would reduce output and income in the future.” 

The problem of long-term unemployment, Elmendorf noted, also “has important economic effects over time… It poses a very large risk of there being some set of people who will not find their way back to work at all or will not find their way to the productive sort of work that they were in before they lost their jobs.”

Elmendorf said the CBO has “reviewed the evidence on a large number of different ways of trying to help people get back into the labor force,” a number of which “have been successful on a small scale and have not been tried on a large scale.” Elmendorf pledged to work with Senator Coons on developing policies that help the long-term unemployed get back to work.

Watch the entire exchange: