Job seekers in Pima County interested in obtaining certificates in specific skill areas to improve their prospects should contact the Pima County One-Stop Career Center about training opportunities.

One-Stop has also arranged for a Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) class to help qualified job seekers prepare for the training.

One-Stop may be able to help qualified applicants with the costs of training in:

• Machine Tool Technology
• Green automotive mechanics
• Advanced aviation technology
• Logistics and Supply Chain Management
• Information Technology
• Get Into Energy utility industry career training

Applicants must have a high school diploma or GED, a valid Arizona driver’s license, and 12^th grade math ability. Most opportunities will also require five years’ verifiable work history, a drug test and a criminal background check.

Priority of service is given to veterans and their eligible spouses.

For more information, please contact Sue Denogean at 243-6759 or Sue.Denogean@pima.gov.

Pima County One-Stop Career Center provides career development services and training funds for youth and adult job seekers. It also provides support to employers in the recruiting, staffing and training of a viable workforce.

Follow Pima County on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pimacountyarizona.

An innovative building design and manufacturing company announced Wednesday it is establishing its corporate headquarters and a manufacturing center in the Tucson region, with the potential to bring 600 jobs within the next five years.

Aris Integration, LLC will manufacture a panelized wall-system that integrates light-gauge-steel structural framing and foam insulation that can be used in projects as varied as residential housing, modular construction and commercial buildings.

The panelized wall approach is faster to install, reducing construction time and costs, according to company officials. It is also as much as 70 percent more energy efficient than standard construction, at a cost competitive with standard construction practices, said Duane Armijo, president and CEO of Aris.

“As we came out of this global downturn, we knew there was an opportunity to be a change agent in the construction industry,”Armijo said.

“And now we have an opportunity in our own backyard to design and develop this product line.”

Armijo said he chose the Tucson region – the second of six planned regional manufacturing locations across the country – in part because of its workforce and because of the support he received from public and private partners, including Pima County and the state  of Arizona, as well as from Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities.

Pima County Supervisors Chairman Ramón Valadez said the company will be a good fit in the region. “What excites me about this announcement are the aspects of Aris Integration that truly reflect our community’s foundation and values: sustainability, energy efficiency and innovative thinking.”

Supervisor Sharon Bronson, who serves on the board of TREO, said there are other areas of synergy.

Pima County has a robust focus on workforce training and development through its One-Stop Career Center that helps connect employers with qualified workers, Bronson noted.

Aris also has pledged to hire as many military veterans, reservists and National Guard members as possible. That commitment, Bronson said, dovetails withPimaCounty’s focus on helping veterans. In July, the County opened the nation’s first workforce center designed to help veterans find jobs, training and support.

Depending on the site ultimately selected for the headquarters, Pima County will provide property tax relief incentives through a Foreign Trade Zone designation.

Sandra Watson, president of the Arizona Commerce Authority, likewise welcomed the news, noting manufacturing remains a critical industry in the state, with $14.6 billion of manufactured goods exported from Arizona in 2011.

Small- and medium-sized Pima County companies interested in financial assistance for employee training that leads to certificates, associate degrees and even bachelor’s degrees are invited to attend a meeting about the opportunity on Wednesday, Nov. 14.

The meeting will explain the Southern Arizona Technical Career Pathways Grant that the Pima County One-Stop Career Center has obtained to assist aerospace, high-technology and information-technology companies.

The meeting will run from 8 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. in Room 323 of the Kino One-Stop Center, 2797 E. Ajo Way.  Employers planning to attend should RSVP to Evelyn Wright at 243-6678 or EWright@pima.gov.

The grant will pay for classes that lead to a credential identified by the employer as needed in the employer’s facility and industry, taking into account the employer’s leveraged resources (wages paid to employees taking classes, use of the employer’s facility or equipment for classes). The credential must:

• Equip employees with new job skills.
  and
• Qualify employees for a promotion/position upgrade and salary increase.

Pima County One-Stop can:

• Provide training by an accredited college/university that results in a credential (New Horizons, Pima Community College, University of Arizona South, or any accredited training center of the employer’s choosing).
• Set up classes in a credential program for employees at the employer’s worksite. The classes can be tailored to the employer’s and employees’ needs.

The grant can also pay half the tuition and cost of books for employees completing bachelor’s degrees in engineering, information technology or production management by the end of 2015.

For more information, please contact Evelyn Wright at 243-6678 or EWright@pima.gov.

Pima County One-Stop Career Center provides support to employers in the recruiting, staffing and training of a viable workforce. It also provides career development services and training funds for youth and adult job seekers.

The Pima County Workforce Investment Board will conduct its monthly meeting on Friday, Nov. 9, at Pima Community College’s Community Campus, 401 N. Bonita Ave.

The Pima County Workforce Investment Board is authorized by the Department of Labor and appointed by the Pima County Board of Supervisors to provide recommendations on local workforce policy and oversight of the Pima County One-Stop Career Center that connects eligible job-ready youth, adult and dislocated workers in local growth, high-demand industry occupations.

Michael Keith, Downtown Tucson Partnership CEO, will talk about the revitalization of downtown Tucson.

One-Stop staff will provide information about current workforce issues and needs, grants, and training opportunities.

The meeting begins at 7:30 a.m., usually concludes by 9 a.m. and is open to the public.

For more information, please visit http://www.pima.gov/ced/agencies-workforce-investment-board.shtml.

Keep up with Pima County on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pimacountyarizona.

Pima County veterans and employers can connect to meet their employment and training needs at Pima County’s new Kino Veterans’ Workforce Center.

More than 200 people turned out Friday, Oct. 19, for the grand opening of the Center. Local employers who have hired veterans and local veterans who have secured training or credentials through Pima County’s One-Stop Career Center were recognized.

ConformaTech, a Tucson geotechnical engineering, materials testing and environmental consulting firm, hired a Marine veteran five months ago with the help of Pima County One-Stop, which opened the Veteran’s Workforce Center in July.

“Some of the skills that military personnel have … don’t easily transfer to a resume,” Brian Lasham, ConformaTech’s materials unit manager, told the audience. But the Marine he hired “has developed into one of my best engineering technicians,” Lasham said.

“He was eager to learn, mature, has an attention to detail, is dependable, dedicated to the company, and a team player and leader when needed. … These are attributes that I as an employer am looking for that are not learned in the normal education system but are instilled into our veterans during their time of service in the military.

“Companies who are overlooking these very qualified candidates because their job assignments in the military do not translate into the position they are looking for are passing up some of the brightest talent available.”

Bob Black, human resources manager for Carondelet Health Network, announced that Carondelet would soon be launching a new training program for 15 veterans who want to be patient-care technicians or pursue other health-care careers.

“We want to reach out and partner with the new Center and do what we can,” Black said.

Among the dozen or more veterans recognized at the grand opening was Jac’Queline Moore, 50, who found herself homeless in Tucson in 2010 after serving six years in the Army and Reserves.

With Pima County One-Stop’s help, Moore moved from a shelter to transitional housing to her own apartment. She started attending and working for Pima Community College in 2010. She is pursuing an associate degree to become a paralegal and was recently promoted from student aide to student services specialist.

“I work with students who face ‘challenges’ as I did when I decided to return,” Moore said in an email. “It is most rewarding to be able to give back to the community which reached out to help me.

“I’ve been at rock bottom and have no plans to return. I managed to raise myself up with the help and assistance of these vital programs. … They give individuals an opportunity to regain their self-respect, dignity and confidence while assisting them in gaining skills and knowledge to pursue other endeavors in life.”

U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva told the audience at the grand opening that the Center and its services are expressions of gratitude and the fulfillment of a social contract with veterans “for what you did for us.”

“There will be opportunities for you. There will be security,” Grijalva said. “We need your talent. We need your discipline. We need your leadership in this country.”

U.S. Rep. Ron Barber said the nation “cannot let happen to the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan what happened to the veterans of Vietnam.”

“We neglected our duty to Vietnam veterans,” he said, and now 70,000 of them are homeless. One out of nine Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are unemployed, Barber said.

“The men and women who have come home deserve our full attention,” he said.

Pima County One-Stop opened the Kino Veterans’ Workforce Center, 2801 E. Ajo Way, to help military veterans find jobs and get training, benefits and support services; and to help employers hire veterans.

One-Stop’s partners in the Center include the U.S. Departments of Labor, Defense and Veterans Affairs; the Arizona Departments of Veterans Services and Economic Security; Pima Community College; Community Partnership of Southern Arizona and Rally Point; CODAC/Comin’ Home; Tucson Veterans Serving Veterans; Salvation Army; Old Pueblo Community Services; Primavera Foundation; the Arizona Veterans Commission; SER Jobs for Progress; and local employers.

The Kino Veterans’ Workforce Center offers veterans:

• Peer support, drop-in and welcome
• Career counseling and job search assistance
• Help with resumes, interview and phone techniques
• Skill and aptitude assessments
• Computer labs and office equipment
• Benefits counseling and claims assistance – education, medical care, disability
• Assistance with housing and other basic needs during transition to employment
• Occupational skills training
• Adult education, tutoring and study skills
• Behavioral health services and recovery
• Business recruitment and workforce training assistance

For more information, please contact Art Burrola at 520-740-4636 or ABurrola@pima.gov.

Keep up with Pima County on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pimacountyarizona.

Pima County will join the University of Arizona in celebrating the dedication of infrastructure improvements and ceramic tile work at the UA Bio Park on Thursday, Oct. 11.

The celebration at the site of the UA Bio Park on Kino Parkway and 36^th Street will begin at 8:30 a.m. with a neighborhood tree planting. The park infrastructure will be dedicated at 9 a.m., and three walls of ceramic tile work by students and staff at Pima County’s Las Artes Arts & Education Center will be dedicated at 10 a.m.

The Las Artes “Bio Wall” will be unveiled after remarks by Ramón Valadez, chairman of the Pima County Board of Supervisors, and Tucson City Council member Richard Fimbres.

The 65-acre UA Bio Park is part of a regional effort to develop the biotechnology industry in Tucson and Southern Arizona. The UA Bio Park is an integral part of Tucson’s emerging bio-corridor that is centered on the University of Arizona. It will include lab and office space, a technology high school, and a hotel and conference center.

The UA Bio Park is part of a larger development plan called The Bridges. This 350-acre mixed-used development also includes residential and retail components.

Las Artes, at 23 W. 27^th St. in South Tucson, combines structured classroom study with community art projects to prepare students for GED testing and to build their employability skills. More than 500 Las Artes students have obtained their GEDs since the program began more than 15 years ago.

Las Artes students’ murals, ceramic tiles and other artwork can be seen across Pima County – in South Tucson, Sahuarita, Marana and Tucson. The tile work at the Bio Park was designed in conjunction with the University of Arizona and made possible with funds provided by the Arizona Department of Transportation and administered by Pima Association of Governments.

A Pima County Regional Flood Control District project completed in 2009 helped prepare the Bio Park site for development. The $7.3 million flood control project included construction of the 23-acre Mission View Wash detention basin and a 60-inch reinforced concrete pipe storm drain to collect area flood waters and divert them to the Tucson Diversion Channel south of Interstate 10.

For more information about Las Artes, please visit www.pima.gov/ced/employment-training/et-arts-center.shtml or watch a video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Dq7BdglGSw.

For more information about the Pima County Regional Flood Control District, please go to http://rfcd.pima.gov/.

Keep up with Pima County on Facebook at www.facebook.com/pimacountyarizona.

Sea testigo de la diferencia que hace el Centro Educativo y Artístico Las Artes del Condado Pima en la vida de nuestros jóvenes a través de un nuevo video de 21 minutos, disponible en el canal del Condado Pima en Youtube, https://www.youtube.com/user/pimagov.

Las Artes, ubicado en 23 W. 27th St. en el Sur de Tucson, combina el estudio en clase con proyectos artísticos en la comunidad y prepara a los estudiantes para su prueba de GED y los ayuda a mejorar sus habilidades para el trabajo.

Murales, azulejos de cerámica y otros trabajos artísticos de estudiantes de Las Artes se pueden apreciar desde varios sitios a través del Condado Pima, incluyendo el Sur de Tucson, Sahuarita, Marana y Tucson.  Su trabajo más reciente para Univeristy of Arizona Bioscience Park ubicado en Kino Parkway al Este de 36th St. será presentado durante la dedicatoria del parque el Jueves 11 de octubre.

La mayoría de los estudiantes que asisten a Las Artes son estudiantes que abandonaron la preparatoria o están en riesgo de abandonarla.  Son estudiantes que tienen que trabajar para ayudar a sus familias económicamente o que han perdido el entusiasmo por la escuela a causa de experiencias previas.  “Se han acostumbrado a tener obstáculos”, dijo Elena West, gerente del programa de Las Artes.

Las Artes les presta la oportunidad para salir adelante y contribuir a la comunidad.

“Nuestro programa produce individuos con una educación, con sueños y anhelos y el deseo de seguir adelante, ya sea en una carrera de educación u otra profesión o buscando empleo”, dijo West.

“Esto debe crear un empleado calificado y eficiente que entiende la importancia de ser puntal e ir a trabajar todos los días y mejorar no sólo para beneficiar al lugar de empleo, sino también para el beneficio de sí mismo y su familia”.

Los estudiantes en el video lo dicen mejor.

“Cuando empecé a atender Las Artes, cambió por completo mi manera de ver la vida”, dijo un estudiante.  “Yo no quería ir al colegio.  Ni siquiera sabía lo que quería hacer en mi vida.  Pero ahora ya lo se”.

La próxima inscripción será el 17 de octubre.  Estudiantes interesados deben llenar una solicitud y tomar una evaluación académica para determinar su nivel.  Para más información, llame at 243-5050 o visite www.pima.gov/CED/CR/LasArtes.html.

A new video provides an inside and up-close look at the difference Pima County’s Las Artes Arts & Education Center makes in the lives of young people in our community.

The 21-minute video is available for viewing on Pima County’s YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/pimagov.

Las Artes, at 23 W. 27^th St. in South Tucson, combines structured classroom study with community art projects to prepare students for GED testing and to build their employability skills. More than 500 Las Artes students have obtained their GEDs since the program began more than 15 years ago.

Las Artes students’ murals, ceramic tiles and other artwork can be seen across Pima County – in South Tucson, Sahuarita, Marana and Tucson. Their work at the University of Arizona Bioscience Park at Kino Parkway and East 36^th Street will be featured at the park’s dedication on Thursday, Oct. 11.

Most of the students who attend Las Artes have dropped out of high school or are at risk of dropping out. They’ve worked to help support their families. Or they’ve become discouraged by previous experiences in school. “They’ve become so used to having roadblocks in their way,” says Elena West, Las Artes program manager.

Las Artes gives them an opportunity to succeed and contribute to their community.

“We provide an individual who has gotten their education, who has the hopes and the aspirations and the dreams to continue on to do for themselves, whether it is to continue into education, higher education, or to employment,” West says.

“That has to translate into an employee that’s qualified, that’s efficient, that understands about punctuality and about showing up every day to work and about performing for the betterment not only of the employer they may be working for but for sustaining themselves and their family.”

The students in the video say it best.

“When I started attending Las Artes, it changed my whole outlook on life,” one student says. “I never wanted to go to college. I never even knew what I wanted to do with my life.  But now I know.”

The next open enrollment in Las Artes is Oct. 17.  Prospective students must complete an application and take a basic academic assessment to determine placement.  For more information, call 243-5050 or visit www.pima.gov/CED/CR/LasArtes.html.

Slide 1 of 13.
Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn, right, points out a wildflower as Linda Vaught, left, Joy Hought, center left in white, and Martha Burgess, center right, look on during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail on Mt. Lemmon on July 19, 2012.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 2 of 13.
Martha Burgess, left, talks with Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn, center right in blue, along the Oracle Ridge Trail.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 3 of 13.
Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn, right, talks with the group.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 4 of 13.
Joy Hought takes a close look at Fendler's meadow-rue during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail on Mt. Lemmon.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 5 of 13.
The group heads up the trail past veins in rock.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 6 of 13.
A bee makes its way around a Geranium Caespitosum, or Purple Cluster Geranium, seen during the wildflower hike.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 7 of 13.
A sign marks the start of the trail; there is a large parking area just off of the Control Road.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 8 of 13.
A Penstemon Barbatus, or Scarlet Budler, is seen during the wildflower hike.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 9 of 13.
A Geranium Caespitosum grows in front of a stump charred by the 2002 Bullock Fire.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 10 of 13.
The group walks through lush green groundcover mixed with burned trees.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 11 of 13.
A bee rests atop a Wheeler thistle.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 12 of 13.
A Ipomopsis Tenuituba is seen during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail on Mt. Lemmon.
Source: Pima County Communications OfficeSlide 13 of 13.
The group makes its way down the trail during a wildflower hike along the Oracle Ridge Trail. Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Environmental Educator Meg Quinn led the group on the hike.
Source: Pima County Communications Office

Wildflowers are beautiful wherever you find them, but the more you know about them, the more they will amaze you.

So seven Pima County residents were appropriately amazed in mid-July when Meg Quinn led them on a wildflower hike on Mount Lemmon.  The hike is one of the many free outings, workshops and special events offered by the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department’s Environmental Education and Interpretive Programs.

Quinn is the adult and volunteer program coordinator and the author of two books about Southwest wildflowers.

The monsoon brings a “second spring” to Mount Lemmon, Quinn explained as the group gathered to walk the Oracle Ridge Trail after carpooling from Tanque Verde Road and Catalina Highway at 8 a.m.

“The season starts in July once we’ve had some summer rains,” she said.  “The peak season is usually in August.”

The Bullock Fire burned the trail area in 2002, and flame retardant left red stains on the rocks.  The skeletons of silver leaf oak trees stand stark against the sky, with new branches springing from the roots, competing to become surviving trees.

Unfortunately, the charred trunks of ponderosa pines show no such signs of renewal.

In 3½ easy-paced hours – less than four miles out and back – we saw more than 20 types of wildflowers, most of which were on a list that Quinn distributed.

Showy red-orange paintbrush and beardtongue penstemon.  Yellow Hooker’s evening primrose and purple Wheeler thistle.  Tiny and delicate lotus and ipomopsis tenuituba, whose even tinier pink spots – visible through shared hand lenses – prompted surprised oooo’s.

Quinn did more than match common and botanical names with flower faces.  Careful to share the single samples she picked – instead of each picking our own – we smelled the spicy scent of bee balm, stuck sticky bedstraw to our shirts and felt the flannel leaves of mullein.

We learned that yarrow is also known as wound wort because it stops bleeding and that Arizona fleabane “is supposed to keep insects away.”

Who knew that the leaves of Palmer lupine follow the sun?  Or that its “banner” petal changes color after it’s been pollinated – a “don’t bother” sign to passing bees?

Quinn shared a poem to help us tell the difference between the rushes we saw and other plants.

“Sedges have edges,
Rushes are round,
Horsetails have coarse tails,
Cattails have flat tails.”

If you go on Quinn’s wildflower hike on Aug. 8 or Aug. 30, you’ll probably get to see coral bells in bloom.

“It’s never the same on this trail,” Quinn said.  “There’s difference species in different places.”

If you’re really lucky, you might get to see an orchid.

“You don’t find orchids; they find you,” said Quinn, who says they appear in her peripheral vision when she’s looking at other plants.

Whenever you go, you can expect cooler temperatures on Mount Lemmon than in the valley below.

Linda Vaught, who’s been going on the Environmental Education hikes for 6-7 years, calls them Pima County’s “best-kept secret.”

“I just love to go on the Pima County nature hikes,” Vaught said.  “You don’t have to have any money. People are willing to carpool.  It’s a wonderful thing.”

For more information about the Environmental Education programs, please visit http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/eeduc/environ.htm

To see a list of the Pima County Natural Resources, Parks and Recreation Department’s scheduled wildflower, birding and even lizard walks, and other events, please visit http://www.pima.gov/nrpr/calendar/index.htm

Books by Meg Quinn

• Cacti of the Desert Southwest
• Wildflowers of the Desert Southwest
• Wildflowers of the Mountain Southwest