Mayor Anthony Copeland is breaking new ground with connecting contractors, subcontractors, qualified workers and unskilled laborers together to work on East Chicago projects with a new and innovated website called the Workforce Employment Connection. For more information visit www.eastchicago.com and click on the link Workforce Employment Connection.
Any contractor that is awarded a construction project from the City of East Chicago will be required to register at this site. The contractor can then seek out any City of East Chicago resident workforce applicant who may possess the necessary skills to help fill positions on the project. There is no fee for this service.
The site also provides the residents of East Chicago an opportunity to share their resumes directly with any contractor that is awarded a construction project in the City. This contractor is then encouraged to seek out hiring opportunities of workforce personnel that resides within the City of East Chicago. There is no fee to join and no monthly service or subscription fees. Residents applying must have work experience.
Unskilled workers are encouraged to sign up through the Indiana Plan link conveniently located on our home page at www.eastchicago.com.
On June 13, 2005, while Mayor Anthony Copeland served as a councilman, he introduced an ordinance requiring contractors to comply with a 50 percent local hiring requirement on contracts as designated by the City. Since the inception of this ordinance, contractors have always found it hard to meet that goal. This prompted Mayor Copeland to take action and form a group to work on this task.
Mayor Anthony Copeland stated, “Our highest priority is to make a direct connection between the contractors and our residents. By posting to the website, it gives each party access to each other with confirmation. The goal is to connect the trained available workforce in East Chicago with employment opportunity on East Chicago projects.”
The website will debut at the Contractors Meeting this Wednesday, March 26, 2014 at 1pm at the Field Educational Center located at 3551 Block Avenue in East Chicago. Local Contractors are invited to this informational session with a panel of City Department Heads and leaders working on the upcoming phase one projects which include; Lakefront Development, Demolitions, New Construction and Road Construction. All improvements identified within Phase One are land based improvements on City-owned parcels.
In line with the Marquette Plan, the East Chicago Waterfront Initiative is about reinvesting in the waterfront. This initiative will take time, effort and new ways of approaching decades-old challenges but, if successfully implemented, will have dramatic benefits.
The City of East Chicago shall not be legally responsible for the employment decisions of outside contractors, nor does it make any misrepresentations of guaranteed employment. If this submission leads to employment, the City of East Chicago has no binding or contractual obligations to any or all parties involved.
For more information contact Consuelo Magaña at Human Rights 219-391-8477.