New Seguin Career Center opens its doors

New Seguin Career Center opens its doors Main Photo

3 May 2021


news, workforce

Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today

Cindy Aguirre

(Seguin) – Looking for a job just got an upgrade here in Seguin. Workforce Solutions Alamo (WSA) recently celebrated the opening of its newly relocated renovated Seguin Career Center. The office, originally located at Crossroads Mall across from Alamo Group, is now open for job seekers in the Plaza Del Rey Shopping Center at 1411 E. Court Street.

The celebration, which included a ribbon cutting, marks the third renovation for Workforce Solution Alamo’s 11 rural career centers.

WSA CEO Adrian Lopez says anyone looking for a job or a change in career is encouraged to stop by the new office and checkout the nearly $175,000 in renovations. He says this investment allows WSA to offer even more resources for job seekers.

“We are very proud of the fact that we have a resource room for all those people who don’t have access to a computer or a device. They can come in and utilize our facilities. But in addition, we’ve got things like virtual reality training where people put on a little headset and it’s almost as though, for example, they are in a manufacturing plant. They understand the basics of things like safety and things like how to operate certain tools. Those are things that can be done here without having to actually go into an actual manufacturing setting so that is just one example of that. But of course, the other aspect of it is many times, people don’t know what opportunities are out there. We have really great counselors that have the opportunity to sit down one on one to work with people individually, to do an analysis and an evaluation as to what their skill set is and to evaluate what their next step should be in their career, what are their wants and stuff so we are very proud of the fact that they have staff that can provide those types of services as well,” said Lopez.

The center offers job seekers a comprehensive suite of employment, training, educational and supportive services. Youth services and innovative strategies, such as virtual reality training, will help job seekers build soft and technical skills that support key industries in Seguin.

Lopez says this new location aligns with WSA’s sector-based model and supports the city’s growing manufacturing industry. The center is expected to strengthen WSA’s presence in the community as the organization further develops partnerships with employers, elected officials, and stakeholders to create an industry-driven workforce ecosystem.

The Manufacturing Institute predicts as many as two million future jobs in the U.S. could go unfilled from the lack of skilled workers. Lopez says the manufacturing industry, which is elite in Seguin, also faces a labor shortage exacerbated by an aging workforce.

“We look forward to using our local partnerships and services to connect employers with a young and talented workforce. Our youth services provide students the necessary skills needed to enter the workforce, and our job fairs have successfully connected local manufacturers with job seekers,” said Lopez.

Lopez says no matter the obstacle, WSA can help steer individuals in the right direction. He says even childcare is no longer a challenge in bringing home a paycheck.

“So, while they are getting a childcare subsidy, they can either go back to school, get educated, get trained or be employed. I can tell you what that impact is on a monthly basis. That impact on a monthly basis for that childcare subsidies, about 10,000 kids on a daily basis that are in childcare which produces the opportunity for about $14 million of earnings for those five or six thousand families that are taking advantage of that,” said Lopez.

Lopez says offering a newly upgraded space couldn’t have come at a better time for Seguin and Guadalupe County. He says the COVID-19 pandemic left the workforce shaken but believes in this area, the workforce is getting stronger each day.

“There are about 400,000 people that lost their job in this region. We don’t want those folks to lose hope. We don’t want them to lose opportunities because there are many opportunities still out there. I’ll give you an example. From October to March of this year, about 40,000 jobs were added to the economy. Certainly, we are not at the point of the number that we lost but there are still opportunities and if people don’t feel comfortable going back to work, if they want to have an educational opportunity or a training opportunity to reskill to get into some of the industries like for example, what is booming here, which is the manufacturing industry, we have opportunities for them to come in here and get training for that, for free,” said Lopez.

The Workforce Solutions Alamo Board serves as the governing entity for the regional workforce system, a network of service providers and contractors that brings people and jobs together. Workforce Solutions Alamo is composed of the 13-county Alamo region.

To help jumpstart careers, WSA will be hosting multiple job fairs on Tuesday, May 4 and Wednesday, May 5 at the new Seguin Career Center. The event will also include an in-person hiring event with Caterpillar.

For those job seekers needing a little help with technology, Lopez says free Wi-Fi is available in the parking lot of all career center locations across the Alamo region.

WSA’s network of career centers offer services virtually and in-person by appointment. Call (210) 224- HELP (4357) to schedule an appointment.\

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