GST Michigan Works! in Shiawassee County received a phone call from McCarthy Building Companies asking for assistance in speaking with an MWA in another region. GST was asked to give information about how we worked with McCarthy and the services provided to them. McCarthy is an out of state company and was the general contractor for building the largest solar farm in the state of Michigan. The company will be involved in working with another solar project in the Kalamazoo area and wanted to make sure that this project would run as smoothly as the first.

GSTMW had provided many services to McCarthy which included a facility for job fairs, Facebook Live Employer Spotlights, collecting and vetting applications, and On-the-Job-Training funds through WIOA. We also worked with many of the new employees through supportive services. All of this was new to the company due to being headquartered out of state. GST contacted the MWA, discussed the various programs that were involved, and found that they were prepared to offer the same.

Several days later GST received another call! This time from Ranger Power, a Chicago based company, who was working on a solar project in the Hillsdale area. The request was like the one made by McCarthy Building Companies. Ranger Power is the company that will run the Shiawassee County solar facility. The Hillsdale project is looking for 250 workers and Ranger Power wanted to know how we worked the first project to make it flow seamlessly. Again, we set a time for the company and the other MWA to be in a Zoom call explaining our process, time frame, and available services. The call was successful with all questions being answered and parties feeling satisfied with the opportunities that Michigan Works! has to offer.

The success to this story is that companies who have never worked with a Michigan Works! Agency see the value in a partnership after just one interaction. GSTMW was able to help assist McCarthy with many employees; as well as, awarding $20,700 in OJT funds. The other MWAs will benefit from the initial project by continuing the level of service initially offered. Both companies were impressed with how quickly and closely the various MWAs worked to assist with their upcoming needs. Questions were addressed before being asked.
Collaboration is the key to making our workforce and agencies stand out. These employers have seen it action and love it!