>> thank you. good morning, everybody. thank you for coming today. we are going to highlight once again the importance of san francisco putting local residents back to work and reviving our local economy. as some of you may recall, last september, we announced the city would have its own modified version of the federal jobsnow program. because congress failed to act, the city partnered with local businesses to keep san franciscans working, and we call it jobsnow2. as a result, we have partnered with over 100 businesses and employed over 500 local

residents, with 70 of them working in the private sector. today, we are here to announce we still have a lot of financial opportunities for private citizens to participate in the jobsnow2 program and we will continue to help put san franciscans back to work. we would like to increase and focus this jobsnow2 program on local small businesses. local businesses are missing a great opportunity to use this resource to their advantage. this increase of subsidy we are seeing today could help small and medium-sized businesses expand and reduce overhead. jobsnow2 will reimburse employers for the first $5,000 of wages paid to an employee hired from the eligible job seeker pool, which would cover two to three months of wages.

a pretty good deal for participating businesses. it reduces the risk of hiring new employees, which would be a big plus for any business, and getting more san franciscans working is a plus for our entire city. this program, the jobsnow2 program, it is funded through june 30 this year. there will be approximately 250 to 300 jobs that could be subsidized by this time. we are here to announce we have still got money. we still that enthusiasm and an opportunity. we are focused on local small businesses. we have done well with the public sector and non-profit sector. today, we are announcing the availability of these funds to entice our small local businesses to take advantage of this program. with that, i want to introduce

trent rhorer, our head of the human services agency. and he will in see the rest of the speakers. >> thank you, mr. mayor. good morning, everyone. i am trent rhorer, director of the human resources agency. as the mayor said, we've had tremendous success with jobsnow. we employed over 4100 low- income, unemployed job seekers, as well as folks who were receiving unemployment. this was underwritten by more than $60 million in federal funds. unfortunately, expired september of last year. we revive the program using more than $9 million of state, local, and federal funds to help the same pool of unemployed job seekers. two-thirds of the program has

been successful. we've been able to place over 460 people in public sector, subsidized positions, as well as with our nonprofit partners in the city. i think the shortcoming of jobsnow2 was on the private sector side. we initially designed the program to offer private sector, principally small businesses, $2,500 to hire an individual. we had about 70 placements, and with the help of my colleague who is standing behind me and my staff, we doubled the subsidy amount. that is what we are announcing today, that small businesses -- or any business in the private sector in san francisco -- can avail themselves of $5,000 in a wage subsidy, provided they hire an individual screens through us and referred to them. there is room for probably 300 or more placements through the fiscal year.

given the wage level, we think the $5,000 will carry a small business two to three months and in terms of the person they hire. in similar to jobsnow1, believe the private sector will recognize immediately the value of the individual they have hired. over 70% of the businesses who participated in the first program said the employees increased sales. and many of these employees were kept on after the program ended and the private sector pay their salaries. we hope the same thing happens here, that they add value to the company, and they are retained after the $5,000 subsidy goes away. behind me, i have a champion of jobsnow1 and jobsnow2, providing feedback to my staff on how we

can benefit the people of san francisco. we also have an employer and employee of both programs to talk about it, but before i introduce them, i would like to introduce one of our leader proponents and partners and advocates on the board of supervisors, board president david chiu, who will say a few words and then we will turn it over to the participants in the program. supervisor chiu: thank you. i am very excited to be part of this announcement, because i was an elected official, i used to run a small business. we all know one of the biggest challenges facing us is our unemployment. i should mention, my mother used to say "there is no such thing as a free lunch." i think that jobsnow2 is as close as we can get to that free lunch between now and june 30. jobsnow1 was part of the federal

stimulus that we got from president obama. it was remarkably effective. we created over 4000 jobs with 800 companies which brought $55 million of new activity into our local economy. we were all extremely disappointed when congress decided not to continue that program last september. but i am very happy that because of the partnership with the mayor's office and with mayor lee's commitment to jobs, with hsa, and private sector leaders, we've been able to move this forward with state and local and some federal funding. i particularly want to single out scott, who pointed out our numbers have been lagging in the private sector. he brought this to our attention. what we really ask you, our media partners, is to give the word out. there is still be potential for

hundreds of jobs to qualify between now and june 30. the latest estimate is 300 new jobs that could be created if companies take advantage of what we have got here. with that, i want to thank all the partners here as well as our friends in private sector and small businesses we hope will be using this program to put our people back to work. >> good morning. i am the founder of small business california. but i am also an employer. everybody knows that small business is the engine that drives the economy, nationally. they hired two-thirds of the net job increases. it is really important that this information get out to the small business community. as a little background -- i did hire a person from jobsnow, the

first portion of it. cecilia has been with me since january 2010. i did so because i knew at some point within six months to hear a was going to have to hire another employee, and this gave me the opportunity to hire someone earlier than i would have done otherwise. and she turned out to be just a fabulous employee. my assistance -- my assistant claims person in our office. she does a tremendous job. i think there is tremendous opportunity to increase from $2,500 to $5,000. it is an enormous benefit for small businesses. i would like to ask the small business community in san francisco to look at this program and see what opportunities are out there for them. to that extent, i gave to tony lugo information on a job that

was available, and hopefully we will take advantage of the subsidies. thank you. >> thank you, scott. coming from the human services side, where we focus 90% of our time and effort on the clients we are serving, we are not used to being in the economic development business. this program really is that. certainly among small businesses. 80% of our placements in the first program more small businesses. i will give you a story about a gentleman i met at one of our events of last year. he runs a car wash. this is in the east by. he told me he was hesitant to expand. he did not want to take the risk to expand. it just means more staff, right? more people to wash cars. he said jobsnow came along and he doubled his staff. he took that risk because he was

not going to invest anything. he doubled his revenue. and when the program expired, he kept those people. they are still working. his business is thriving. there are dozens of examples like that there really -- at least in our world where we are so excited about getting 4100 people placed in jobs, we certainly need small businesses to stay in business, and also to grow and flourish. we have an example here. a company called book bog. -- book big. charlotte is here to talk about her experience with jobsnow 1 and 2. i think she brought a couple of folks she hired through the program. >> hello. i am one of the four founders of book big.

we are a book rental service. we encourage children to develop a lifelong love of reading. using our company, they can take out books and give them as long as they like and return them when they are done. the truth is that reading is key. the truth is that finding the right books is key to finding a successful reading experience. the other truth is that kids who enjoy reading do better at school and life afterwards. working part-time and unpaid, we were able to build a product and service, and began shipping it to friends and family. we first began to be aware of the program in march 2010, and we thought this was a great opportunity. through the first program, we

have been able to hire a total of six employees, four of which remaintamara and tashina williams. we also have two other employees. they are single mothers and need jobs. they have shown a commitment to our business. the program has been crucial to our business. we found it to be a smooth and easy business. our representative, roxanne, has been incredibly helpful. one of our employees started in april 2010 and began by assisting me in shipping books. she is extremely dedicated and the real assets. she has proven to be flexible, multitalented, and an essential member of the team.

we plan to keep both employees on long-term. the benefits of these programs are not just financial. we have seen how each employee's improves their self-esteem in having a job. i feel proud of the process, and the city is doing a great thing by helping struggling companies. hiring these employees through these programs helps focus on growing the business. over the past year, we've shipped over 25,000 books to kids and help pay for 11500 kids to read more regularly. we think the program is the best support in helping grow the business. we are thankful for the opportunity to employ these four great individuals and help their families. thank you.

and i will introduce toshina williams, our most recent employee through jobsnow2. >> good morning. in a single mother of a divide- year-old boy. for a year, i was unemployed and frustrated because i was having a hard time finding a job. what became very hard for me because i could not provide for -- life became very hard for me because i could not provide for my son. after being on calworks for some time, i was referred to the jobsnow program. i was able to better my interviewing skills and even got help with interviewing close. through this program, the program was four weeks long, and i was offered a job as a shipping and receiving assistance. after learning more about the company, i learned that this

was opportunity to introduce books into my son's life. before i worked for them, i had a hard time getting my son interested in books at all. now we enjoy reading together. i enjoyed working with book big, and i feel that my skills are a perfect fit for the company. the program gave me a better hope for our future. in closing, i would like to likebook big for offering -- i would like to wouldbook big -- would like to thank book big. >> and i will introduce tamara as well, the we employed a year ago with the program. >> hello. i am a single mother of a 10- year-old little girl. i was unemployed for over a

year. money was extremely tight, and i spent the majority of my time looking for job, sending out resumes, and going to dead and interviews. i needed the job to cover my living expenses. i first heard of book big through the program. a year later, i am still working for them and managing the operations side of the business. is right to be part of the team were my role really matters and i get to provide -- it is great to be part of the team, rolled really matters and get to provide voluble feedback. i have been given the opportunity to assist in marketing materials and develop graphics for the website. these are skills i hope to build upon in the future. having this job means a great deal to me. i have grown in confidence. i am happy to give up in the morning. my life has purpose and meaning.

i am able to pay my way and provide for my family, which has had a positive influence on our lives. i am now able to spend time with my daughter and do things with her instead of looking for jobs and constantly working -- worrying about money. finally, i never knew how much my daughter loves to read prior to working here. she now reads several books per week, and with friends over for book review parties. is very hard to stopper from wanting to read all the time. -- it is very hard to stop her from wanting to read all the time. in closing, i would like to say how grateful i am to the sf jobsnow program. it has affected every part of my life in a positive way. and i would also like to thank book big four allowing me to be part of a successful new

startup. thank you. >> to recap, principally today the word we want to get out to small business as well as other private employers in the city is the subsidy for jobsnow2 has been doubled to $5,000. we have room for it least 300 more slots. the way to get a hold of the human services agency -- there are many ways. one is to call 311 and ask for jobsnow. the other is 877-job-1now. or you can go to our website. so i will close with that. >> [unintelligible]

>> yes. we have 113 have been placed in public sector positions with the city's human services agency, underwritten by this. and then we have the remainder in various community-based organizations throughout our community jobs program, as well as english as a second language placements. again, underwritten with the same $9 million. we were successful on the start of sides. we want to open up to the private sector more. -- we were successful on those two sides. >> [unintelligible] >> scott may want to address this as well, but the $2,500 may be was not enough of an incentive, and we think doubling it to 5000 -- especially for

small businesses that have thin margins to take advantage. we do -- starting a new program, we were uncertain about the demand on the client side. we kept the match quite low with the total money we had. we are quite confident giving the remainder of the budget we have, that we can place 300 folks. scott wants to add as well. >> i think trent is totally right about increasing from $2,500 to $5,000. but the other aspect of what we're doing this today is to get this out to the small business community. i sent out an e-mail to about 500 small businesses. i got 70 to 80 responses. most of them did not know it existed. >> [unintelligible]

so, the $5,000 only covers you so far. maybe the business doesn't pay. you know, $10,000 -- >> carolyn, that is a good question. that is what we are testing, right? we will see in the next couple months, a few months what kind of uptake we get on the private side as well as clients. if the program is successful, jobsnow2 is a bit of a pilot program. we wanted to see what we could do. the idea would be to maximize the number of placements. as you increase the subsidy, he will impact your clients. we are trying to find that balance. -- as you increase the subsidy, you impact fewer clients.

we hope to continue this and maybe see another restructure. >> can you talk about -- [unintelligible] are the people who got jobs on an jobsnow1, for those people still employed? what happened to them? >> on the private sector side, private businesses had to decide whether to keep the employees or not. we think we are running at 65%? tony? about 65% retention on the private side. on the public and non-profit side, because of the limited budget authority, that subsidy ended and the attentive to transition those employees into

other jobs, either into -- and we attempted to transition as employees and to other jobs, either into the private sector or to find jobs on the rump. >> another question. [unintelligible] what is going to happen to people? [unintelligible] >> the idea on the public sector side -- you have to put this in the context. we have to move families into self-sufficiency. one of the ways to do that is to work and build job skills, the ability to compete