GLWIB Member Profile
Michael McQuaid
Career Center Director
Career Center of Lowell
Phone: (978)459-2336
Website: http://www.cclowell.org
Mike McQuaid has worked in workforce development for 31 years. He earned a BA in Political Science from Salem State University and an MPA in Public Administration at Suffolk University. Mike has been the Director of the Career Center of Lowell since its inception in 1996. Mike is also the Co-Chair of the Massachusetts Career Center Director's group and the Vice Chair of the Workforce Investment Association. Mike's participation with these two groups allows him to be involved with federal and statewide initiatives that help guide what the Career Center of Lowell does locally. Mike also sits on many of the GLWIB's committees including the Workforce Issues Committee, and the newly created Emerging Sectors Committee. Mike says the Committees offer objective guidance and validation of the action models and decision making of Career Center initiatives. The Career Center consistently utilizes the input of the Board's Committees.
Organization Description
The Career Center of Lowell is one of thirty-seven career centers in the Massachusetts One-Stop Career Center system. The Career Center operates as a Division of the City Manager's Office with Mike as the Department Head. Prior to 1995, job seeker services in Lowell were split into two offices, one for employment services on Summer St, and one for training services on Jackson St. In 1995, Mike and his staff worked with state employment service leaders to establish the one stop model in Lowell and eventually the two offices merged. By 1996 the Career Center of Lowell was up and running. In 1999, the Career Center was chartered by the Greater Lowell Workforce Investment Board. Today the Career Center of Lowell serves 7,000-10,000 customers annually and several hundred businesses. Besides employment services, the Center offers many valuable workshops for customers. Customers entering the Career Center have the opportunity to receive guidance one-on-one with Career Advisers. The Career Center Business Services team works with hundreds of businesses in the region focusing on supplying appropriate referrals to employers and providing information on the Workforce Training Fund and tax credit programs. The Career Center also offers services for veterans, mature workers (45+) and people with disabilities. The Career Center also provides services for Youth (ages 14-24). This past summer the Youth Jobs program was the biggest it's been in 10 years. Thanks to the Shannon Grant YouthWorks program and mainly ARRA funds, the Career Center helped over 600 youth get jobs for the summer. The Youth Central staff work one-on-one with youth to help them prepare for the world of work. The Career Center of Lowell has come a long way since its establishment in 1996. It has evolved by not only continuously improving service delivery but also by expanding the dissemination of information about additional services available from all of our community partners.
What new projects are currently underway?
The newest project in progress at the Career Center of Lowell is the Re-Employment Services (RES) program. The Department of Labor through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has given each state additional funding to expand services to Unemployment Insurance (UI) claimants. Generally, each Career Center customer participates in a Career Center Seminar (CCS) and a Career Action Plan (CAP) workshop before receiving additional services. The statistics show that for customers who return after their CCS, there is a 15% higher entered employment rate (for those customers). Thus the focus of the RES program is to get Career Center customers to return for further services by establishing Career Action Plans and scheduling an appointment to formalizing their next steps. In closing, Mike adds he is "fortunate that he can come to work every day with such a dedicated and hardworking management team and staff. They are the key to the success of projects like the RES Program and the overall success of the Career Center of Lowell".
To find out more of what the Career Center of Lowell offers, please visit the website www.cclowell.org