Author: David Lewkowict

Nearly 3,000 Atlanta job-seekers attended a career fair that aims to boost employment in one of the country’s most overlooked worker groups – people aged 50 and older.

The Work@50+ Career Fair, sponsored by AARP, EmploymentGuide.com and WiserWorker.com, is making its way through 19 states. The fair offers career counseling, job-hunting strategies, networking tips and information on how to market experience and skills.

“There’s a difference in skills that older people need to focus on,” said Phyllis Cohn, project manager for AARP. “A lot of our folks who are new at this job-hunting really don’t understand what it takes to get a job today.”

More than 2 million seniors are unemployed. The unemployment rate for workers 55 and older climbed to 7.1 percent in February from 6.8 percent in January. Although the unemployment rate for seniors is still below the national average of 9.7 percent, the rate stands at its lowest since the 1940s.

In addition to seniors who lost their jobs, many seniors have to rejoin the work force because retirement savings have run dry. About seven out of 10 workers aged 45-74 tell AARP that they plan to work in some capacity in retirement. Seniors often face job discrimination due to their age; it typically takes about eight-10 weeks longer than average to find a job, according to the organization.

“I’ve been out of work for two months, and so far, no luck whatsoever,” said one senior job-seeker.

Today’s fair in Atlanta features employers from various industries including health care, hospitality, customer service, finance, sales, insurance, transportation, skilled trades and security.

In weeks to come, more of the Work@50+ Career Fairs will be held in Alabama, Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, North Carolina, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington. These states and D.C. have the highest unemployment rate among people over 50. Although the fair is geared toward seniors, all ages are welcome.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in 2000, 13 percent of the U.S. workforce was 55 and older, and by 2010, that figure is expected to increase to 17 percent.

By Lauren Miller

For a man lovingly known as Chef Ron, the mission to teach the culinary arts is more than a passion, it’s a mission.  Ron Ahlert runs the Community Culinary School of Charlotte,  a nonproft school dedicated to training and finding jobs for what some have called the unemployable.

Chef Ron takes people with addictions or criminal records and trains them in all facets of the food business.

He wants them to learn and become not just self sufficient, but productive.

“They’re fighting hunger, they’re creating opportunities for themselves while they are learning,” Ahlert said. “Not only are they learning via book, but they’re learning via the visualizing. They get to taste, feel, and understand the success through their hands and eyes and mouths.”

Every second Thursday, Chef Ron runs the Bistro, a lunch at the Community Culinary School, where students put their newly learned skills to work at every part of the process, from prep to customer service.

Chef Ron doesn’t let up on the students; he demands excellence and makes sure they get it right, even for the non-paying customers at The Bistro.

“It’s 12 to 14 weeks of intensive culinary training. We go over everything from soups, stocks, and mother sauces to how to get a brand new resume to what not to say or what to say in a job interview,” Alhert said.

The 12-year-old program has changed recently according to Ahlert.

“No longer is it really, in a sense, the down and out, the hardened students. It’s folks with college backgrounds now who have just been in one career and have lost that career,” Ahlert said. “Not being able to afford a traditional institution, they use the Community Culinary School of Charlotte as a conduit to really investigate and explore the culinary arts.”

The downturn brought Mostafa Gaber to the school.  The former banker lost his job months ago and saw this as a second chance when he couldn’t make a living off of his small business.

“Cooking was always a favorite hobby, and I think after graduation I will pursue opportunities in the food industry, and maybe in food science and nutrition as well,” Gaber said.

More than 600  students have graduated the program.  In good times, Chef Ron says about 70 percent find full time jobs, lately the economy has brought that number down to about 30 percent.

“We used to have more jobs than I had alumni to fill them. Unfortunately, it’s taken a completely opposite direction. I have more alumni than jobs to fill. Although as of late, I’ve been getting some jobs in,” Ahlert said.

Encore Catering is the money-generating wing of the school and employs some of Chef Ron’s graduates. Although the graduates face tough competition in the food industry, Chef Ron says they do have something that other applicants may not.

“We have MBA’s lining up for $8-$10 an hour jobs. The difference is that the Community Culinary School of Charlotte graduates want to work. They are here because they’re ready to go, and they know this place will help them make a difference in their lives, their church lives, their community, and everything that they’re involved with,” Ahlert said.

For Chef Ron, the overall mission is clear.

“When you see somebody recreate their legacy, and then you start to see the immediate impact it has on their spouse, on their child, you know they’re going to take it to their family and their community, and then to some business,” Ahlert said. “It becomes just as addictive as other addictions.”

Read Jonathan Serrie’s On the Scene blog for more on this story.

Lauren Miller contributed to this blog.

FAST FACTS: Fox News Brainroom on Jobs in Culinary Industry

 Lauren Miller

 

 

 Day two at the National Tea Party Convention is underway at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel in Nashville, Tenn., and the participants are enjoying an experience they hope will be revolutionary.

 

About 600 people are registered for the convention, and more than 1,100 are expected to show for Sarah Palin’s keynote speech Saturday evening.

 

The atmosphere is very different from that of the tea party rallies held last summer. The crowd is still enthusiastic — complete with chants of “USA, USA”.  But the convention schedule is filled with workshops aimed at organizing and growing the grassroots movement.

 

Thursday, country music songwriter Ray Stevens kicked things off with his new song, “We the People,” which has turned into the unofficial anthem of the tea party movement. Later in the evening, guests viewed “Tea Party: The Documentary Film,” which was created to help erase the movement’s pitchfork-mob label and explain their purpose.

 

Friday’s workshops focus on voter registration drives, youth involvement in the conservative movement  and how to organize a tea party group.

 

Mark Skoda, a convention organizer, delivered a fiery speech to the crowd Friday morning, saying, “This movement is not about forming a third party. That is a guarantee to lose.”

 

The convention’s center lobby features vendors selling souvenirs like silver necklaces in the shape of tea bags (with an assortment of sparkly gem stones).  Tea party T-shirts are flying off the mannequins.

 

A handful of tea partiers chose to wear 18th century garb, recalling the original tea party in Boston. While their get-ups may be fun and entertaining, convention organizers say they need to move past those kitschy displays.

 

“It is a maturity of a movement that understands that to receive power, one must exercise that power, and it is not done by simply holding signs above your head,” Skoda said.

 

Tea party organizers confirmed a follow-up event scheduled for July 16-17, and announced the Ensuring Liberty Corporation, a non-profit company established to organize and raise funds to support candidates from across the country.

 

Palin’s speech is expected to last 45 minutes, followed by a 15 minute Q&A session. Her $100,000 speaking fee initially raised a few eyebrows.  She now says she plans to donate the fee to charities and other causes.