Aug. 28, 2012

Steve Partridge runs the federally funded job retraining program in Mecklenburg County. Born in the 1960s as CETA, and having had several other names, it reorganized itself this year as Charlotte Works.

And, says Partridge, it set about trying to do a better job of listening to employers about their needs, and spending precious federal dollars on retraining efforts that would actually get people jobs.

In a question from the floor, Partridge was asked about the demographics of his employees and his board. He later provided this information: Staff are 47% white, 53% black; 16% male and 84% female. With two seats open on the board, the board members are 77% white, 23% black; 64% male and 36% female.

A black-and-white version of a color brochure that Partridge handed out is here.

Below are two videos. The first offers Partridge’s initial remarks. The second includes excerpts from the Q&A session that followed.