WorkSource Oregon unveils new mobile center in Grand Ronde

By Danielle Harrison

Smoke Signals editor

WorkSource Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde hosted an open house at the Tribal Employment Service Center Monday, May 18, to launch one of three new mobile centers that will travel to job seekers in rural areas.

WorkSource Oregon, along with Willamette Workforce Partnership, is collaborating with the Tribe to bring career support options directly to the reservation. During the open house, attendees had an opportunity to learn more about the options offered in the mobile employment center and to take a tour.

Tribal Employment Rights Office Director Harris Reibach and Tribal Employment and Training/477 Program Manager Michael Herrin provided opening remarks at the event.

“This is really a neat thing we’re doing here in terms of collaboration between WorkSource Oregon and the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde, specifically my program and Mike’s program, VR 477, that lives in our Social Services Department,” Reibach said. “Approximately $1.2 million in wages were paid out to people in my program last year with the help of my staff. This is another huge, no pun intended, feather in our cap to be able to work with WorkSource Oregon. … I hope that it provides additional employment resources for not only our Tribal members but the whole community.”

Herrin said that in a rural community like Grand Ronde, there are challenges finding Tribal members employment opportunities outside of the Tribal government or Spirit Mountain Casino.

“So, anytime we can partner with somebody that maybe has additional resources in surrounding areas, it’s a benefit to our people,” he said. “I am excited about implementing it and seeing who it affects, then analyzing that data and seeing how we can improve the services. … Because of the restrictions around our programs, people (in the community) are being underserved. And so, with this collaboration, those people can now come in and get employment services and so I’m excited to see how that affects them. Like I was saying earlier, a rising tide lifts all canoes. So, when anyone in our community does better, we all do better.”

The mobile center will visit Grand Ronde twice monthly, for two to seven hours each time.  

“These mobile centers are vans equipped with workstations, computers and secure internet access,” a press release stated. “WorkSource Oregon staff drive the vans to communities that do not have a brick-and-mortar WorkSource Oregon center nearby. They provide personalized career support, help finding job and training opportunities and referrals to benefits programs. Services are offered at no cost to customers and no appointments are required.”

Additionally, Oregonians who receive food benefit assistance through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and who have received an Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents notice from the Oregon Department of Human Services can access employment and training through the mobile centers to meet the work requirements to stay eligible for services. Those who receive the notice must complete 80 hours a month of work or other activities like volunteers to keep their benefits for more than three months.

“I want to share a lot of gratitude this morning and start with thanking the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and my colleagues on the workforce board for helping us kick off this wonderful event today and helping us bring our new mobile workforce centers to life,” Oregon Employment Department Director Andrew Stolfi said. “We’ve got an important, simple yet challenging mission to support businesses and promote employment. We pursue this mission in lots of different ways. One of the most important and meaningful is helping people find jobs. … We know that a lot of our customers and particularly those in rural, frontier and Tribal communities have a hard time getting to the (OED) offices. … These new mobile centers are just another way we and our partners are adapting to the needs of our customers and literally meeting them where they are.”   

For more information on when the mobile center will be in Grand Ronde, visit worksourceoregon.org/for-job-seekers/mobile-worksource-oregon-centers.html.