Management HQ CEO Dara Rudick joins Minneapolis Mayor Betsy Hodges and Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton as speaker at STEP-UP Achieve Partners Breakfast
Management HQ CEO, Dara Rudick, spoke as both an employer and the parent of a STEP-UP summer jobs intern at The annual STEP-UP Achieve Partners Breakfast. The breakfast honors companies who participate in the youth employment program. It also kicks off the 2016 summer employer recruitment drive. This year, 100 companies pledged 626 summer internships for Minneapolis youth. The program’s goal is to place 750 youth in internships.
Read the event press release:
Mayor Betsy Hodges and Governor Mark Dayton Join Twin Cities Business Leaders to Kick-off STEP-UP Achieve Summer Employer Recruitment Campaign
100 companies pledge 626 summer internships for Minneapolis youth toward goal of 750 internships
Over 250 Twin Cities business leaders joined Mayor Betsy Hodges and Governor Mark Dayton on Tuesday at the Target Field Metropolitan Club to help us honor companies who participate in our nationally-recognized STEP-UP Achieve youth employment program—part of the City of Minneapolis STEP-UP program—and to kick off our recruitment drive for 2016 summer employers. We’re thrilled to announce that over 100 Twin Cities employers have now pledged 626 paid summer internships toward our goal of 750 internships.
“Our youth hold the keys to the future of our city, our region and our state,” Mayor Betsy Hodges said at the event. “Their success is our collective success and the role each supervisor plays in their professional development is crucial to their future. I am very thankful for the strong commitment of each of our STEP-UP partners.”
STEP-UP Achieve serves 750 Minneapolis youth (ages 16-21) each year in partnership with great Twin Cities corporations, small businesses, public agencies and nonprofits. We provide work readiness training certified by the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce, meaningful paid internships, workplace mentors, industry-recognized certifications and advanced career opportunities. We serve youth who face some of the greatest barriers to employment, particularly youth from low income families, youth of color, and youth with disabilities.
Also joining us was Ben Fowke, Xcel Energy’s Chairman, President and CEO. Xcel Energy was honored in 2015 as a STEP-UP Company of the Year. “At Xcel Energy we’re in the midst of a tremendous workforce change,” he told the gathering. “Half of our workforce will retire during the next decade. So where will we find our next generation of skilled workers? Right here in Minneapolis. We literally have these assets embedded in our community. STEP-UP Achieve is a smart business decision and a great tool to help us find and train these new workers and then keep them right here in Minneapolis.”
STEP-UP Achieve alumna Fatima Ahmad, a University of Minnesota student who had internships at the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis and Piper Jaffray, also shared her story with employers. “Not many 17 year-olds get to work at an investment bank and learn about financial markets,” she said. “STEP-UP Achieve welcomed me into the adult world, taught me skills and taught me how to be responsible and professional. These kids that you hire and mentor are capable of extraordinary things. You helped us step up, and now we will achieve.”
Other presenters included STEP-UP Co-chairs Richard Davis, Chairman, President and CEO of U.S. Bank, and former mayor R.T. Rybak, CEO of Generation Next; Todd Klingel, President and CEO of the Minneapolis Regional Chamber of Commerce; Michael Goar, Interim Superintendent of Minneapolis Public Schools; Dara Rudick, CEO of Management HQ and member of the AchieveMpls board of directors; and Colin Owens, a STEP-UP Achieve supervisor at the Metropolitan Council.
Thanks to everyone who joined us! Be sure to check out our event photos. If you’re not a STEP-UP Achieve employer, please consider participating in this life-changing program in 2016! For more information, contact Matt Norris at mnorris@achievempls or 612.455.1565.
AchieveMpls. Mayor Hodges, Governor Dayton and 250+ Twin Cities Leaders Help Us Kick Off 2016 STEP-UP Achieve Employer Recruitment. AchieveMpls, 03 Feb. 2016. Web. 10 Feb. 2016. http://www.achievempls.org/achievempls-blog/mayor-hodges-governor-dayton-and-250-twin-cities-leaders-help-us-kick-2016-step-ach.
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