Through the influx of American Recovery and Re-Investment Act (ARRA) funding Workforce Solutions Upper Rio Grande’s Rapid Re-employment Center at Bassett Place has become a true testament to the needs of our local workforce. As Workforce Solutions learns of an upcoming mass layoff or plant closure, The Rapid Re-employment Unit’s goal is to provide those employees affected with much needed services to get them back into the workforce. “We want to make sure that those qualified, skilled workers find gainful employment as quickly as possible,” said Center Manager Patrick Ortega.

The center has evolved even further since providing a home to this past year’s summer youth program. It is now a full service one-stop center that serves not only those affected by mass layoffs, but general jobseekers as well. The facility will assist individuals with employment services like job placement, workforce programs like the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), and all other essential center resources including workshops and orientations. “This allows our customers to get all the necessary assistance they need in one place,” added Ortega.

With the amount of services the Bassett Re-employment Center will provide comes a unique challenge facing the 12 person staff. “The center staff must be skilled in many different areas in order to accommodate our customers. They feel empowered and they will be very dynamic in how they handle customer service and use their cross knowledge,” said Ortega. The new location has been up and running since the end of August and is comprised of newly constructed offices, conference/training rooms, and a full computer resource area.

View pictures of our Rapid Re-employment Center from construction to production

View Rapid Re-employment Brochure

UR GREEN (Upper Rio Grande Renewable Energy and Efficiency Network) is a consortium of subject matter experts within the fields of renewable energy, efficiency, construction, project management, workforce development and grant writing joined together for the purpose of finding funding opportunities for new, innovative, sustainable programs that support local businesses, and to stimulate “green collar”  job growth within the region.

UR GREEN’s mission is to put El Paso on the map as the leading model border city with game changing energy sustainability programs through the promotion of green building, energy efficiency, renewable energy, alternative transportation, and innovative technologies. UR GREEN’s coalition of experts act as an effective educational tool and outreach model for the promotion of “green” policy and community initiatives.

Our Summer Youth Program participant target was 798 and we more than tripled it with 2,980 youth enrolled!! Workforce Solutions opened a center specific for the ARRA Summer Youth Program and hired and trained a highly qualified team of 25 members to assist.   Our certification period started in April and finalized in May. Every Saturday, during this two month period, we had the opportunity of conducting on-site certifications in several High Schools in the Upper Rio Grande region. We also had certifications at partner sites: UTEP, EPCC, Job Corps, St. Anthony’s Catholic Church and La Fe. One hundred forty-two employers participated offering 2500 work experience opportunities. Employers in El Paso pertained to a variety of industries: Government - 17; IT - 15; Healthcare - 29; Service - 15;Retail - 20;Finance -  12.   In addition, 650 classroom training opportunities in the world of work were made available for the 14 – 15 year old youth and a total of 2,553 were provided a classroom component.

For more information please contact:
Sabrina Campbell
Program Coordinator, ARRA
Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Tel: (915) 772- 2002 ext. 212