For companies having a difficult time finding employees, the Saratoga-Adirondack Job Service Employer Committee (JSEC) offers a breakfast seminar from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. April 4, “Nontraditional Resources for Finding Great Employees.” The location will be Longfellows Restaurant, 500 Union Ave. The cost is $5 per person and includes coffee, juice, fresh fruit and muffins.

The seminar will teach firms about programs available to locate workers. Participants will also become familiar with the New York State Adult Career and Continuing Education Services--Vocational Rehabilitation (ACCES-VR) mission, whom is assisted, services provided to achieve employment outcomes, how ACCES-VR helps disabled individuals with the job-placement process, how ACCES-VR works with employers and financial incentives for employers who hire people involved with ACCES-VR.

Companies will also learn about the program Jobs for Heroes--The Returning Heroes Tax Credit. Participants will get an overview of each plan, and also gain insight into what these programs have to offer for businesses and how they can help firms find great employees.

Speakers include Melissa Strauss and Leslie Carroll. Strauss has a B.S. in special education from SUNY at Buffalo and an M.S. in vocational rehabilitation counseling from Virginia Commonwealth University. She has worked in the field of vocational rehabilitation assisting disabled individuals with becoming employed since the late 1970s. She has been a certified vocational rehabilitation counselor for NYS ACCES-VR for 11 years. She serves adults in Saratoga County and special-needs students in two high schools in Washington County.

Carroll has a masters of science in psychology from Chadwick University and a Family Development Credential from Cornell University. She provides counselor support at the Women Veterans' Retreats at Wiawaka Holiday house on Lake George each year. She is presently a counselor for veterans at Saratoga Veterans Housing, Employment and Lifeskills Programs in Ballston Spa and is herself a veteran of the United States Navy. She has done crisis intervention with veterans, teens and adults. She has worked with the Crisis Action Network as well as the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

The Saratoga-Adirondack JSEC is a joint project of the New York State Department of Labor and of employers in Saratoga, Warren and Washington Counties. JSEC offers breakfast seminars every other month on topics of interest to business owners and human resource professionals.  The $5 cost for the program goes directly into a scholarship fund for BOCES students living in the three counties who are continuing their education beyond high school. Longfellow’s owner, Steve Sullivan, donates the space and the meal in support of this scholarship program. The all-volunteer Steering Committee coordinates the seminar topics and the scholarship program.  For more information about JSEC, the scholarship program or the Steering Committee, call Kimberly Haviland at the New York State Department of Labor at 743-0925, ext. 8887.

Cancellations due to inclement weather will be aired over local television and radio stations’ Web sites.

This is an Equal Opportunity Employer/Program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon prior request to disabled individuals.


--Jennie