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Date: 4/9/2015
SPRINGFIELD – Kevin Lynn, a longtime employee at FutureWorks, the nonprofit career center, has been promoted to being its executive director.
Lynn has worked at FutureWorks since 2000 as manager of Business Services, Information Technology, Youth Services. Since last year he served as the acting executive director following the retirement of Rexene Picard.
“We are thrilled to announce the appointment of Kevin as the new executive director of FutureWorks,” said MacArthur Starks Jr., the FutureWorks board chair and MassMutual employee. “With his extensive experience at FutureWorks, demonstrated teambuilding capabilities, wealth of knowledge and strong ties to the community, he is the ideal leader to move our ‘One-Stop’ Workforce Development Center toward successful achievement of its future goals.”
Lynn explained to Reminder Publications the role of FutureWorks has changed somewhat with the decrease in the unemployment rate.
“We certainly are seeing less people coming though the doors,” he said.
Those people, though, frequently required more retraining to be attractive to area employers, he added.
He said that in many cases it was not one major issue a person faces in fulfilling the needs of employers, but several smaller obstacles. He said that proficiency in English can be a problem and computer illiteracy is “more common than dreamed of.”
Some potential workers think they are capable in various computer programs, but really their knowledge could be three or four years old.
“They have to know what has taken place today,” he said.
FutureWorks offers a wide range of classes to bring a person up to the levels employers seeks. According to its website, www.futureworksjobs.org, the organization offers resume coaching, computer classes, tips on personal branding, the writing of job search letters and interviewing strategies, among other topics.
Besides finding jobs for prospective workers, Lynn noted FutureWorks also works for potential employers. He said many companies are looking in investing into programs to train and shape the employees they need.