The U.S. Small Business Administration and SCORE announced that registration for the 2024 National Small Business Week Virtual Summit is now open. The two-day online event will take place from April 30-May 1. Registration is required for the free event. To register, visit National Small Business Week Virtual Summit registration.
The event will feature educational workshops presented by event cosponsors, access to federal resources, and networking opportunities. A detailed agenda and list of cosponsor speakers will be published at a later date.
For more information about National Small Business Week, visit www.sba.gov/NSBW.
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Holyoke Community College has been awarded a $104,000 state grant to continue training paraeducators to help address workforce needs in Hampden County public schools.
The grant, from the state’s Training Resources and Internships Network (TRAIN), will fund the next two rounds of HCC’s free, seven-week, online paraeducator training program. The first round begins March 25 and the second June 17.
Paraeducators, also called teaching assistants or teaching aides, typically work in classrooms in a variety of capacities, sometimes assisting classroom teachers with instruction or working one-on-one with students who have individual education plans (IEPs) and require additional assistance.
The 140-hour program blends job readiness and career exploration components with education and training specific to the knowledge and skills needed to pass the Professional Certification for Teaching Assistants exam, which qualifies individuals to work in federally designated Title 1 school districts, or those with a significant number of low-income households.
The program includes in-person job shadowing and can lead directly to a four-week internship and subsequent employment with one of HCC’s public school system partners in Springfield, Holyoke, West Springfield and Chicopee.
HCC has been running the program four times a year since 2021 and expects to receive additional grants to keep it going beyond the March and June sessions.
The grant to HCC was part of a package of $1.5 million in TRAIN grants awarded to 13 community colleges across Massachusetts meant to prepare residents for careers in fields such as education, health care, addiction recovery, cyber security, and manufacturing. The grants will provide free career training to more than 400 adult learners at community colleges, with programs targeting residents who are unemployed or underemployed. The grant to HCC will pay to train 26 individuals.
HCC’s other grant partners include Springfield WORKS, MassHire Holyoke, MassHire Springfield, DTA Works and United Way Thrive. Individuals who receive state benefits through the Dept. of Transitional Assistance or Transitional Assistance to Families with Dependent Children may qualify for a “learn to earn” training and internship stipend of $125 a week.
While the primary focus of the paraeducator program is to prepare students to pass the PCTA exam, it includes a job readiness curriculum, which covers the basics of applying for a job: writing a resume, preparing a cover letter, gathering references, practicing for an interview. The program also covers subjects such as how to function effectively in a professional setting: Working with colleagues, communication, respect for diversity and reliability.
For more information or to apply, go to hcc.edu/para.
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Western Mass CORE at Holyoke Community College, in partnership with Western New England School of Law’s Center for Social Justice, MassHire Holyoke, and Enlace de Familias, will host a criminal record expungement and sealing clinic and CORI-friendly job fair at HCC on Thursday, April 4.
The event will run from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., with the job fair portion in the PeoplesBank Conference Room on the third floor of the Kittredge Center for Business and Workforce Development on the main HCC campus, 303 Homestead Ave. The legal clinic will take place in classrooms on the second floor or the Kittredge Center and in the adjoining HCC Campus Center.
The event is free and open to the public and will provide an opportunity for people with criminal records to get free legal advice, learn about the criminal record expungement and sealing process, obtain a free copy of their CORI report (criminal offender record information), and connect with potential employers and community and college resources.
The event coincides with the national recognition of April as “Second Chance Month,” a time to reaffirm the importance of helping people re-enter society after being incarcerated.
According to Nicole Hendricks, director of Western Mass CORE, a college pathways program for incarcerated and system-impacted individuals, around 77 million, or 1 in 3 adults in America, have a criminal record, subjecting them to obstacles to rebuilding their lives.
CORE was founded in 2019 by Hendricks, a professor of criminal justice at HCC, and Mary Orisich, professor of economics. CORE stands for “community, opportunity, resources, and education.”
Western New England School of Law’s Center for Social Justice is sending about a dozen legal volunteers, including CSJ staff attorney Gladys Vila-Carreras, retired judge and interim CSJ Director Dina Fein, and attorney Crispin Birnbaum, an Access to Justice fellow focusing on clients with criminal records, who will supervise local attorneys and student volunteers from the law school.
MassHire anticipates that representatives from more than 25 area employers will attend the job fair along with 10 or so support service organizations.
The Center for Social Justice will be sending the Justice Bus, its free mobile legal clinic, which will be parked outside the Kittredge Center during the event.
Also attending will be representatives from the Hampden County Sheriff Department’s All Inclusive Support Service program (AISS), HCC’s Culinary Arts program, HCC’s Thrive Student Resource Center and Food Pantry, and El Centro, HCC’s support center for Hispanic and Latinx students.
There will also be free food and music.
HCC will provide free transportation to campus from the Maple Street bus terminal in downtown Holyoke via La Guagua, the college’s community shuttle, and to the Kittredge Center from the bus circle in the middle of the campus.
Pre-registration for the event is recommended but not required. To register, go to hcc.edu/CORI. Please bring a Massachusetts photo ID.
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Second Chance Animal Services’ four Community Veterinary Hospitals performed 7,803 spay and neuter procedures in 2023, an increase the previous year’s count of 5,249 and surpassing the previous record of 6,198 set in 2019.
The Springfield hospital recorded its best year to date with 2,145 procedures conducted, surpassing its previous record of 914 set the previous year. The increase can be attributed to the implementation of a second day each week dedicated to the low-cost spay and neuter program.
Second Chance has introduced a new scheduling app that allows pet owners to conveniently schedule spay and neuter services. For more information on Second Chance’s low-cost vaccine clinic or to schedule an appointment, visit https://www.secondchanceanimals.org/.
