Jackson County is launching a new youth employment initiative to fund the salaries of workers aged 14 to 24 beginning this summer.
Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Olivia Johnson said the program aims to instill responsibility and determination in students. It will also provide much-needed labor for businesses with limited budgets.
“I think it’s just a very good thing to teach children responsibility first off,” Johnson said. “Just having that grit to come to work every single day, do what they need to get done. It also helps you, it helped me especially going through college, just staying determined. I will say that’s like the number one thing to get you through school is just being responsible and determined.”
Johnson said the initiative is designed to be a year-round opportunity rather than a traditional summer job, providing more stability for the businesses involved.
Johnson said the Youth Employment Program (YEP) manages all administrative burdens for participating employers by handling payroll, taxes and human resources support. Johnson said the program fully funds the salaries of the young employees, up to $3,000, which reduces the financial risk for small business owners.
“I think it’s very important to participate just because this is just a huge opportunity,” Johnson said. “You have little risk in this if no risk at all. So this is just a great way to test your business, see what works and doesn’t works. And you’re really out nothing doing it other than just getting, you know, an extra set of hands.”
Johnson said the initiative also includes provisions to pay the salaries of additional employees with disabilities. Johnson said the program is currently accepting applications from businesses and expects to fill positions quickly.
“It opens up to new or different employers to be able to hire new employees,” Johnson said. “So rather than just, like you said, like the ice cream shop or our restaurants only being able to hire these people, it broadens out to, you know, even blue collar jobs. We have a lot of those here and it just really gives a giant opportunity for those small businesses to get more help this year.”
Johnson said the timing of the program is ideal because local travel has increased in Gainesboro and surrounding areas as a result of high gas prices. Johnson said many local family-owned businesses currently lack the extra funds to hire staff beyond their own family members.
Johnson said young employees can bring a different energy to the workplace.
“They give a different perspective,” Johnson said. “They definitely are always more willing to do the hard stuff for sure.”
While still in its early stages, Johnson said businesses that apply for the program can expect to hear back regarding their status within a few weeks as the program rolls out.
“They’re very involved and luckily everybody collaborates together very well,” Johnson said. “So I have no worry about that.”