Video: Maritime industry needs to get new workers on board

KING 5 News (March 5, 2013)  “There’s a lot of jobs available in the maritime industry in the Puget Sound region. We employee nearly a quarter million people either related directly or indirectly to maritime industry,” said Chris Peterson, Crowley Marine Services Vice President. He says the tide is changing. Companies are seeing a wave of workers retire and need to fill a big...

Video: Fiscal cliff already hurting thousands of unemployed in Wash.

KING5/December 31, 2012 – When it comes to going over the fiscal cliff, the stakes are high for everyone, especially the roughly two million people at risk of losing long-term unemployment benefits.  That has already happened to thousands of unemployed people in Washington.  Long-term unemployment benefits – those for people out of work more than six months – disappeared on Saturday in...

U.S. Secretary of Labor visits WorkSource Seattle-King County

On Friday, Oct. 12, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis held a community conversation at WorkSource Affiliate Downtown Seattle.Sec Solis with KC Exec Constantine and WDC CEO Marlena Sessions. After speaking about the importance of education — including skills training as well as four-year degrees — for our workforce, the Secretary took questions from the audience of more than 70...

Video: WDC challenges area businesses to hire youth this summer

On May 11, 2012, the WDC called on local employers to offer work experiences to our community’s young people this summer. The event at YouthSource Renton included WDC CEO Marlena Sessions,as well as Bob Peters, local president of Bank of America, announcing a new $50K grant to the WDC to add 16 internships to the City of Seattle Youth Employment Program. Kathryn McCafferty of Expeditors...

Video: WDC joins Senators Cantwell and Inouye to hear challenges and solutions for veterans seeking work after service

The Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County continues to make veteran re-employment a top priority. On April 1, WDC Chief Executive Officer Marléna Sessions joined Washington Senator Maria Cantwell and Senator Daniel Inouye of Hawaii to discuss with reporters new job-training programs for returning veterans. Watch the video below! “The WDC and our one-stop employment system...

Aerospace efforts applauded by King County Council committee

King County Council members are praising the WDC and other leaders of the county’s Aerospace Alliance for working to keep the growing industry a central part of the county’s economic engine. The kudos came as Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County CEO Marlena Sessions and other key partners in the Alliance updated the council’s Committee of the Whole March 5, 2012....