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January 3, 1968 MEMORANDUM TO: The Steering Committee FROM: The Task Force on Private Employment In order for the Task Force on Private Employment to implement the "Private Employment, Assistance and Investment Section" of The Urban Coalition's Statement of Principles, Goals, and Commitments, the prog r am developed by the Task Force must be practical and action-oriented. The complexity of the problem and the urgency for action have been clearly stated many times. Therefore, it is not necessary to include this information in this paper. It is generally agreed that much will depend on the commitment and action taken on the local level. Therefore, the Task Force has assigned top priority to working with local leadership throughout the country. In many cases, local employment committees will be p~rt of the total local coalition effort. The Task Force plans to undertake the following acti v ities: 1. Encourage and assist the business sector to develop specific manpower programs that will make an impact on the employment problem . These activities include recruitment, training, and placement programs . 2. Develop policies and proc e dures whereby a local employment committee may apply for direct financial assistance from the Task Force . This would be on a matching basis and be limited to a v e ry s mall number o f high ly effecti v e p r og rams. 3. Assist the bus iness se c to r t o d evelop t h e pra c ti ca l techni qu es a n d mech a ni s ms t o imp l ement p r ogram s on the l o c a l l e v e l. Th i s wou l d include th e d e v e lopme nt of a ma nual o f inst r uction and informatio n. 4. Establish a clearinghouse for information on programs and activities b e ing undertaken by the privat e sector. Case studi e s on specific programs would be developed and made avail~ble to interested companies throughout the country. �Page 2 The Task Force has already initiated action in some of the program activities. During the months of November and December meetings were held in Baltimore, Maryland, Detroit, Michigan, and Atlanta, Georgia. The conferences focused on specific topics such as organizing local employment campaigns; recruiting, training, and placement of the hard-core unemployed; reassessing under-employment; job development and upward mobility; and promotion of economic growth in the ghe_t to. Future conferences are planned in ~hoenix, Arizona for the western states and in Kansas City, Missouri for the midwestern states. In addition to the area conferences, meetings with representatives for individual communities and companies have been held. It can be expected that this activity will increase as more communities and companies become involved in local coalitions and begin to develop employment programs. It has been suggested by many participants in the conferences that the Task Force serve as a clearinghouse f or information and develop speci fi c case studies on programs being undertaken by companies. The Task Force is working very closely with the National Industrial Conference Board and the National Association of Manufacturers on this activity. Information on programs is being gathered at the prese nt time and it should be available to comp a nies in the very near future. The Ta sk Force pla ns · to invite business and l abor leaders to assist the T~sk Force on the national level. The T~sk Force is presently considering a list of individuals who have e xpre ssed an int eres t in working with th e Task Fo rce. Although the Task Fo rce does not plan to become directly involved in the c onduct and administration of programs, it wi ll develop policies and procedures by wh ich the Task Force can prov i de limited finan cial assist ance in the developme nt and implementat ion of specific programs. This activity will not only provide much needed financial assistance to local employment committees, but als o provide the Task Force a n opportunity to implement some o f the goals in the " Private Employment, Assistance and Investment" Section of the Stat ement of Principles, Goals, and Commitments, such as "Earn and Learn Centers~' recruitment, and training programs. In summary, the ma-jor activities of the Task Force will focus on broadening the commitment and involvement of the private sector on both the national and local level. It will also develop ~nd implement in cooperation with local employment committees a small number of specific programs to expand employment opportunities for the hard-core unemployed . �