Young people ages 14-21 can explore career opportunities in aerospace, defense, manufac-turing and machining at Pima County’s free Youth Career Expo on Wednesday, April 10.

Seating is limited! Youth must RSVP by Sunday, March 31. Fill out the RSVP form at http://www.pima.gov/ced/employment-training/et-summer-youth-program.shtml, save it to your computer and email it as an attachment to Rebecca.Pitman@acehs.org or fax it to her at 520-791-9893. Also email her any concerns or issues completing the form.

The Expo will run from 3 to 6 p.m. at Tucson International Airport, 7250 S. Tucson Blvd.

It will feature exhibits and representatives from aerospace, defense, manufacturing and machining employers and educators, including the University of Arizona Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department, the Pima Community College Aviation Program, CAID Industries, Prototron Circuits, and Ascent Aviation Services.

Participants will have opportunities to attend presentations and participate in discussions about various career choices.

About 300 young people attended the first Pima County Youth Career Expo in November, which focused on health-care careers.

The Expos are organized by the Pima County Workforce Investment Board Youth Council and the Pima County One-Stop Career Center.

For more information about the April 10 Expo, please contact Dana Katbah at 520-798-0500 or PledgeaJob@pima.gov or Vaughn Croft at 520-724-3018 or VCroft@pima.gov.

For more information about One-Stop, please visit www.pima.gov/ced/employment-training.shtml.

For more information about the Workforce Investment Board, go to www.pima.gov/ced/agencies-workforce-investment-board.shtml.

A certified public accountant and an insurance executive will talk about the impact of the Affordable Care Act on individuals and businesses at the March 8 Pima County Workforce Investment Board meeting.

The topics to be addressed by Nicole T. Simpson, a CPA with Regier Carr & Monroe LLP, and Jay Heydt, vice president at Crest Insurance Group, include:

• Additional Medicare tax (increase from 1.45% to 2.35%) on wages/self-employment income of high earners.
• 3.8% Medicare surtax on investment income of high income taxpayers.
• Small Employer Health Insurance Tax Credit
• Requirements of a small or large employer.
• The Exchanges: What do they mean?

The meeting will begin at 7:30 a.m. in rooms A109-112 at Pima Community College’s Community Campus, 401 N. Bonita Ave. It usually concludes by 9 a.m. and is open to the public.

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.

One-Stop staff will provide information about current workforce issues and needs, grants, and training opportunities. They will also provide information on new bills before Congress and the effects of sequestration.

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

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The Pima County Workforce Investment Board released its 2011-12 annual report at its Dec. 14 meeting, documenting the actions the Board and the Pima County One-Stop Career Center have taken to assist local employers and job seekers meet their employment and training needs.

“A trained workforce fuels our community’s economic well-being,” said Gregg R. Johnson, chairman of the Workforce Investment Board and Campus Director of Southern Arizona’s University of Phoenix campuses. “In our current economic climate, the Pima County Workforce Investment Board’s role in providing local employers with skilled and qualified employees has never been more important.”

The 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, which connects eligible job-ready youth, adult and dislocated workers to local growth, high-demand industry occupations.

According to the 2011-12 annual report:

• 773 businesses hired One-Stop clients.
• 15,682 job seekers utilized the One-Stop self-service system.
• Of the 4,153 job seekers enrolled for Workforce Investment Act case-managed services, 86 percent of dislocated or laid-off workers, 81 percent of adults and 71 percent of youth were successfully placed in employment.
• 37 companies utilitized the One-Stop Outplacement Services team to work with 1,050 employees during layoffs or plant closings.

The Workforce Investment Board includes representatives from Raytheon Missile Systems, Southwest Gas, ASARCO LLC, Unisource Energy/Tucson Electric Power, CAID Industries, Pima Community College, and Tucson Regional Economic Opportunities.

To obtain a copy of the print Workforce Investment Board 2011-12 annual report, please contact Risé Hart at 520-243-6766 or Rise.Hart@pima.gov. To see the annual report online, please visit www.pima.gov/ced/agencies-workforce-investment-board.shtml.

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

Pima County One-Stop Career Center is preparing to open the nation’s first workforce center aimed at helping military veterans find jobs and get training, benefits and support services.

The center will also help employers hire veterans.

The Kino Veterans’ Workforce Center is scheduled to open Monday, July 16, at 2801 E. Ajo Way, next door to the Kino Service Center at 2979 E. Ajo Way.

Due to an incorrect media report of an earlier opening date, Program Manager Art Burrola said Thursday that a staff member will be at the center on Monday, July 2, to direct veterans to appropriate resources.

A grand opening is planned for a later date.

The Veterans’ Center will be a partnership of the Pima County One-Stop Career Center with the U.S. Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs, the Arizona Departments of Veterans Services and Economic Security, Pima Community College, Community Partnership of Southern Arizona, the Pima County Health Department, and Old Pueblo Community Services.

To improve the quality of service to veterans, reduce unnecessary duplication and maximize available resources, the partners will coordinate to offer services and streamlined resource referrals under one roof, and to share leadership, costs, information and data.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the unemployment rate for Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans jumped to 12.7 percent in May, up from 9.2 percent the previous month.  The national unemployment rate for May was 8.2 percent.

In addition to employment assistance, returning veterans also often need housing, health care and other support services.

The Kino Veterans’ Workforce Center will offer veterans:

• Peer support, drop-in and welcome
• Career counseling and job search assistance
• 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
• Guidance and financial assistance for training and education programs
• Adult education, tutoring and study skills
• Behavioral health services and recovery

Employers who hire unemployed veterans between Nov. 21, 2011, and Jan. 1, 2013, may qualify for:

• A Returning Heroes Tax Credit of up to $2,400 if the veteran has been unemployed for at least four weeks or up to $5,600 if the veteran has been unemployed for more than six months.
• A Wounded Warrior Tax Credit of up to $9,600 if the veteran has been unemployed for more than six months and has service-connected disabilities.

For more information, call 243-6700.

A panel of local experts will talk about trends in the logistics/supply chain field in southern Arizona at the Sept. 9 meeting of the Pima County Workforce Investment Board.

The meeting, which is open to the public, is 7:30-9 a.m. at the Pima Community College Community Campus, 401 N. Bonita Ave., Rooms A109-112.

The panelists are all board members of the Southern Arizona Logistics Education Organization (SALEO), created to educate, promote and grow the transportation and logistics industry by networking the logistics service providers and users in the Arizona-Mexico region.  For more information, go to www.saleo.org/.

Panelists are:

• Al Altuna, president and CEO of Altuna Logistics International LLC, president of SALEO.
• Mark Gutierrez, sales executive with DHL Global Forwarding and a founding board member of SALEO.
• Curt André Charles Pedersen, chairman of the board of The Enterprise and Land-Bridge Co., proprietor of C.A.C.P. Consultant Services, and a founding board member of SALEO.
• Hector Valenzuela, owner and president of Mode Transportation, and senior vice president – business/sponsorship development for SALEO.

The panel will be moderated by Noreen Nelson, 2^nd vice chair of the Pima County Workforce Investment Board and former director of human resources for Raytheon.

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

For more information about the Pima County Workforce Investment Board, go to http://www.pima.gov/CED/CS/workforce%20investment/workforceinvestindex.htm