Program matches local seniors with employers

Green Valley and Sahuarita residents over 50 are getting some help in the job market, thanks to a local program launched last year.

Mature Worker Connection, tailored for Green Valley in October as an offshoot of a program started in 2006 by the Pima Council on Aging, is designed to help connect individuals who are 50 years or older and wish to work, with employers who have job openings available.

The local extension of the program, the Mature Worker Program, is run through the Green Valley Sahuarita Chamber of Commerce.

As of the end of May, the program has helped local residents fill 30 positions since October, at least six of which are full-time, said Laura Riecken, the career services manager for Mature Worker Connection.

Some of the positions filled included bookkeeper, dance instructor, overnight security and account executive, Riecken said.

Green Valley resident John Nash said the program was able to connect him with a job at the information and paging desk at the Tucson International Airport.

“I have no complaints,” Nash said. “The job is a good match. For me it was easy because I saw something that I knew would fit my personality.”

Nash retired from his job as a rehabilitation councilor for the state of Minnesota after 30 years. He said was looking for something that would keep him in the realm of customer service.

“It’s not just sitting behind a desk and answering phone calls,” he said.

Nash heard of the program through his wife Jan, who works at the Chamber of Commerce. He had been volunteering at the Tumacacori Mission until he required surgery. He knew he would not be available to the degree he needed to be after the surgery, so his wife suggested he try the Mature Worker Program.

Though he submitted his application in December, he had to delay his interview with program volunteers because of a previously planned vacation and the surgery.

“They were very accommodating,” said Nash. Eventually they had the interview in February, where Nash said they presented him with the available jobs that he may be interested in.

“We had the interview, and everything went well,” Nash said, “And they asked, well, would you like to take a look at our book?” He was able to find something right away, he said, and an interview was then set up between him and the employer. He’s been working part-time at the airport information desk since March, he said.

Nash said that someone probably wouldn’t make it rich, “but,” he said, “they are offering me a job that’s going to give me personal satisfaction.

Riecken said those who are interested in finding work through the program can also register via their Web site.

“It’s just brief information about who they are, how we contact them, and very basic information about what their looking for,” she said. The next step would be for an applicant to meet with a volunteer from the program to help decide what job is best for them.

“We would set up an appointment with a placement specialist,” Riecken said. “So they come in for [an interview], and we have the office down in Green Valley for that, so they don’t have to come up here.” The Green Valley office is at the Pima Community College Adult Education Center, at 1250 W. Continental Road.

The office is not staffed full time, however.

“We only schedule our volunteers to come in and interview them based on the schedule we set up,” said Riecken.

Currently, the program has conducted 121 interviews with locals looking for a job, and over 150 employers have been recruited for job listings, she said.

For more information regarding the Mature Worker Program, contact the Green Valley Sahuarita Chamber of Commerce at 625-7575, or go to the Mature Worker Connection Web site to register. http://www.matureworkerconnection.com/

djordan@gvnews.com