Starbucks Teams Up With Baltimore City To Hire Young People
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Nationwide, millions of teens are not in school and they don't have jobs. A solution to that problem may come in a partnership between city leaders and one of the country's leading coffee companies.
As Gigi Barnett explains, Baltimore is one of five cities teaming up with Starbucks to find and hire young workers.
"I found a job with a couple of companies here and there. They weren't lasting," said 20-year-old Reshaud DuBose.
DuBose's job search lasted for months. Last year, that search came to an end, thanks to the city's Hire One Youth program that found him a position as a bank teller. Since then, he's become a banker at the branch.
"It makes me a little at ease. As a teller, I was part-time. Now I'm full-time," he said.
Now the city is looking to expand its youth jobs programs by turning to one of the nation's leading coffee companies to hire teens.
Last week, the city teamed up with Starbucks to figure out ways to create more jobs for Baltimore's youngest workers. It's called the Solutions-City Initiative, and Baltimore is one of several cities joining in.
"A population numbering about seven million young people who are not in school and are not working may represent the biggest threat to our economy and the biggest opportunity for our economy," said Blair Taylor, Starbucks CCO.
The city hosted a town hall meeting at a Starbucks to start discussing ways to create those jobs. Many of the jobs will start as summer spots and could morph to year-round positions.
"It's vital. If we're going to have a thriving city--not just for now, but for the future--that we focus on connecting young people with the jobs that are going to be available in Baltimore," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.
In addition to Baltimore, mayors from Sacramento, Columbus, Orlando and Phoenix have all signed on to join Solutions City and help teens find careers.
The city plans to host five more Solution City town hall meetings in the coming months to generate more ideas on teen job creation.
Other Local News:
