JVS in the news

Program aims to help turn jobless into entrepreneurs

JVS' Entrepreneurial Training Program featured in the Boston Globe "Program aims to help turn jobless into entrepreneurs" A few years ago, Reading manufacturer MSM Industries Inc., was struggling to stay afloat amid a recession. So, Bill Sebell, an executive at the family-owned firm, turned to the state's Department of Employment and Training (now called the Departments of Labor and Workforce Development) to help him help his employees through the Workshare Program that paid partial benefits, allowing him to keep people on the payroll at least part time.

Downsizing, Internet fuel trend of home businesses

An Entrepreneurial Training Program graduate mentioned in the Globe "Downsizing, Internet fuel trend of home businesses" - 11/6/2005 Boston Globe Jere Ward of Boston and Marianne Morelli of Malden typify the rising number of home-based business owners: Ward, 20, is beginning her career crafting pocketbooks at her dining room table, while Morelli, 51, is rebounding from a layoff by creating soaps and moisturizers in her kitchen.

A working vocabulary

At the end of his shift in the frigid fish house, the 18-year-old worker from Guatemala slapped the last labels on crates of codfish and cherrystones and hurried out of his orange rubber pants. In jeans and a T-shirt, Heriberto Mazariegos raced upstairs to a small conference room at John Nagle Co., on the edge of Boston Harbor, to spend two extra hours at work - learning English. The seafood company, which has been hosting classes since March, is one of a growing number of Massachusetts companies tackling the language barrier among immigrant workers.

Empowering New Workers

Though Roger Berkowitz has made a name for himself by giving people fish, last week he was honored for teaching them to fish. Berkowitz, president and CEO of Legal Seafoods, Inc., represented his famous establishment at Jewish Vocational Service's spring gala on May 10 and received the latter's third annual Business Leadership Award, presented in recognition for the Legal Seafoods Workplace English Class, established collaboratively with JVS for low- and entry-level employees who are not native English Speakers.

Huang, Chau Among Culinary Arts Graduates

Mei Juan Huang of Allston and Chao Fan Chau of Brighton were among 21 recent graduates of the Jewish Vocational Services' Culinary Arts Training Program. Huang recently celebrated graduating from the program at a ceremony at Madison Park High School in Boston.

Learning English takes hard work, dedication and support

"Thank you to everyone, generations past and present. Thank you to all of the staff at MGH," read Edline Dauphin of MGH Nutrition and Food Services, a student in the MGH's English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Program. "Today, I can take a microphone and talk to you in English."