Acting labor secretary praises Vegas Chamber workforce hub

Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling praised the Vegas Chamber’s workforce initiative during a Tuesday visit to downtown Las Vegas, highlighting the EmployNV Business Hub as a model for integrating government‑supported training with private‑sector hiring needs. Sonderling toured the hub, which operates as an American Job Center inside the chamber’s office, and spoke with local employers who have utilized its hiring and on‑the‑job training programs. He argued that involving employers early in the creation of positions improves the alignment between training curricula and actual job requirements. “As employers are creating these jobs, they cognize the nonstop skills and what the occupation descriptions are,” helium said. The hub connects businesses with federally funded services, including On‑the‑Job Training (OJT), which reimburses companies for a portion of wages paid to workers while they receive instruction. Among the employers Sonderling met was Trina Jiles, proprietor of Gritz Café and a retired firefighter. Jiles, a Las Vegas native, currently has two employees—a hostess and a cashier—participating in an OJT arrangement that subsidizes their wages while allowing her to tailor training to her restaurant’s specific demands. The workers, described as middle‑aged adults new to the hospitality sector, are learning customer service, communication, and how to operate the establishment’s point‑of‑sale system. Jiles, who has relied on local workforce programs since opening her café in 2008, said the support alleviates some of the financial burden associated with hiring workers who need instruction. “It doesn’t “matter however agelong it takes for america to bid them,” Jiles said. “It allows america not to person to instrumentality connected that load ourselves.” The Vegas Chamber launched the EmployNV Business Hub in 2020, becoming the first commerce association in the state to host an employer‑focused American Job Center at no cost to businesses. Sonderling noted that positioning the job center within the chamber eliminates the typical separation between federal workforce facilities and private‑sector venues. “Normally, the American Job Centers are successful national buildings oregon different areas that are abstracted from backstage assemblage buildings,” helium said. He added: “There’s virtually not a partition separating the two. And that’s precise special.” Sonderling suggested the Las Vegas approach could be duplicated elsewhere. “I deliberation it volition beryllium a large exemplary for the remainder of the country,”Sonderling said.