Disadvantaged to Get Training to Qualify for Jobs Downtown

A program aimed at helping unemployed and low-income people qualify for jobs being created by the revitalization of downtown was unveiled by San Diego city and private industry officials Thursday.

Hailed by Mayor Roger Hedgecock as his “most significant announcement” ever as mayor, the Downtown Jobs Training Center next week will begin recruiting and screening applicants for the estimated 2,000 jobs that will be created at Horton Plaza when the $140-million retail and entertainment complex opens in August.

Operated by the San Diego Private Industry Council and the State Job Service of the Employment Development Department, the center also will help recruit and refer economically disadvantaged people to other job-creating projects, including renovation of the U.S. Grant Hotel, that Hedgecock said are “breathing new life into downtown.”

Targeting the jobs program toward minority youths and the unemployed will help ensure that the benefits of downtown redevelopment “will be known to all of the people of the city,” Hedgecock said.

“We’ve had a dream not only to bring back San Diego’s downtown as a heart of our city . . . but to make sure that the bringing back of downtown also represents the justice of our city,” the mayor said at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the opening of the center, at 720 1st Ave.

The training center’s program is designed to help applicants, many of whom are expected to have limited or no work experience, “be as competitive as they can possibly be” for the new positions by providing advice concerning successful job application techniques, according to Jim Cauhape, the Employment Development Department’s district administrator.

Hedgecock estimated that the jobs center may receive as many as 10,000 applications for the sales, clerical and other positions being created at Horton Plaza. After an initial screening process, individuals will attend a one-day workshop where they will receive assistance in filling out applications for jobs at the four major department stores in Horton Plaza--Robinson’s, The Broadway, Nordstrom and Mervyn’s --as well as job interview training.

“Not everyone is going to get a job,” Hedgecock said. “But everyone is going to

get a chance to compete for those jobs. We’re going to (put) the successful graduates of the workshop, even those who are unsuccessful in the (Horton Plaza) job interview, on a path that leads to a job.”

Odell Murry, Mervyn’s store manager, described the jobs program as “very helpful pre-interview screening process” that will simplify the department stores’ own application process by “hopefully sending qualified people to us.”

Jammie Baugh, Nordstrom’s regional manager, added that her store supports the jobs program because “we believe in participating in the communities in which we do business.”

Churches, community groups and other organizations will distribute applications for the jobs training program. Applications also will be available at the three State Job Services offices in San Diego, at 1354 Front St., 4579 Mission Gorge Place and 4235 National Ave.