FOLLOW ME INTO BUSINESS® SUMMER PROGRAM
WRAPS UP THIS WEEK WITH LUNCHEON, AWARDS BANQUET AND TOUR
JACKSON, Tenn. (July 17, 2017) – This week, the African American Chamber’s Follow Me Into Business® Summer Jobs Program will close with an Awards Banquet and a City Tour. The closing Awards Banquet will be held Thursday, July 20, at 6:00 p.m. at T.R. White Sportsplex, 304 N. Hays. All participants, their parents and chamber members are invited to attend. Tara Tansil-Gentry of the University of Tennessee at Martin will be guest speaker for the banquet. A member of Tennessee Board of Regents (TBR) Mobilization and Emerging Technologies Team, she will speak on and will exhibit new and emerging technologies being studied by the Mobilization Team.
On Friday, July 21, there will be a four-hour City Tour which will include visits to McKellar-Sipes Regional Airport, Armstrong Flooring, the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center and Tina Turner Museum in Brownsville as well as Lane College , which will also serve as the pickup and drop-off point.
Founded in 2002 by the Jackson Madison County African American Chamber of Commerce, the youth development program has provided nearly 800 young people, 12-18, with job training skills and business basics training as well as mentoring, employment and community involvement opportunities. This month, teenagers, ages 16-18, have been employed in summer jobs paid for through a grant from the City of Jackson . Serving as workplaces for the teens are: Blessed Beginnings, Family Healthcare of Jackson, Food Rite, It's Printed, Nell Huntspon Flower Box, Superior Health and Wellness Clinic, and Walgreens. In addition, working teens and their parents will be honored with a special lunch with BancorpSouth President Doug Roth on this coming Wednesday, July 19.
The youth workforce development program for ages 12-15 kicked June 1st at the Huntspon Business Complex, 351 North Royal. Orientation for participants was held March 18, April 22 and May 13. And, job readiness training for the 16-18 year-olds took place on June 7, 14, 21 and 26. Participants, ages 12-15, received four weeks of business basics training including workshops, guest speakers and role play in June followed by job shadowing, mentoring and site visits to member businesses during the second four weeks in July.
On Thursday at the Awards Banquet, younger students who complete all 8 weeks will receive a certificate of achievement, a youth chamber membership and a $35 stipend. Special thanks to workshop speakers William Lovelady of Cigna, Angela Calhoun of Toyota Bodine Aluminum, Camilla Curry of Mission Convalescent Home, Patrick Talley of the 100 Black Men of West Tennessee, and Chester Sharp of First Tennessee. Program advisors are Mary Weddle and Margaret Kimmins.
Guest speakers for the teen worker trainings facilitated by Executive Director Florence Howard were Renee M. Jones of Union University’s Hundley Center for Academic Enrichment, Sherita Greer of BancorpSouth, and Rebecca White of LyondellBasell, past president Clarence D. Boone and board secretary Murinell Huntspon.
JMCAACC is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization and the Follow Me Into Business® program is free to participants. For more information, call the JMCAACC office at 731-424-2030 or send an email tofhoward@jmcaacc.org.