Region's First Workforce Empowerment Center Heads to Hillsboro

Hillsboro’s Enterprise Zone will soon welcome the area’s first workforce and economic empowerment center.

After more than a year of planning between the city of Hillsboro and Centro Cultural de Washington County, the historic partnership has facilitated the Centro de Prosperidad's — "Center of Prosperity's" — opening of a downtown office this spring.

Centro de Prosperidad will provide services to connect families with living-wage jobs and promote the next generation of entrepreneurs in the region. Staff will focus on helping unemployed people gain language skills and other work skills to assist them in finding work, boosting existing workers' confidence and skills so they can move up on the wage ladder, and guiding residents who want to start their own small businesses. A variety of sites in downtown Hillsboro are being considered for the project.

“This center will help many of our residents get better jobs and launch new start-ups, and help our established businesses by increasing the pool of skilled applicants who are ready to work,” Mayor Steve Callaway said. “We are ecstatic that our work with Centro Cultural is about to make this a reality.”

Hillsboro’s Enterprise Zone Community Service Fee is providing initial funding of $49,865 for the planning phase, to be followed by approximately $500,000 for the first 17 months of operation. City officials anticipate additional funding for the project as it moves forward, and expect that other organizations and governments will also invest as the project demonstrates its value.

“Centro de Prosperidad will assist Hillsboro adults – especially low-income, Latino, and Enterprise Zone residents – by providing access to culturally-responsive resources that build both job skills and self-confidence,” said Maria Caballero-Rubio, executive director of Centro Cultural de Washington County. “Our residents and families need living-wage careers to become self-sufficient, and the bi-cultural and bilingual Center staff will be open to all, not just the Latino community.”

Centro Cultural will serve as the project’s lead partner. The city of Hillsboro and Centro Cultural also have worked with Adelante Mujeres, the Hillsboro Chamber of Commerce, the Hispanic Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and Oregon Human Development Corporation to design the project.

This historic partnership addresses a segment of the community traditionally underserved by the established workforce model. Services that will be offered at Centro de Prosperidad include:

• Active outreach to Enterprise Zone residents, including those who are already employed, but who remain below the federal poverty line or work more than one full time job;
• Skill and interest assessments using both tests and individual consultation;
• English language skills (self-paced language lab);
• Case management for low-income Enterprise Zone residents;
• Resource development and procurement for clients, as needed;
• Job placement assistance;
• Business development coaching; and
• Upward mobility strategies and services for low-income workers.
• Close work with WorkSource and other workforce-related operations in the region, building on their existing services. Washington County Community Action, Bienestar, Portland Community College, and other organizations will connect to the program by providing housing, child care, and related support.

This State-chartered Enterprise Zone program provides a temporary property tax exemption, mainly for industrial businesses, to encourage business investment, job creation, and greater economic diversity. The city of Hillsboro administers the Enterprise Zone program in three areas of Hillsboro: the South Industrial Area, the Central Business District, and the North Industrial Area.

Each company that receives an Enterprise Zone exemption is assessed a Community Service Fee of up to a maximum of 50 percent of the abated tax. The Hillsboro City Council directed the Community Service Fee to be used to increase employment opportunities for Enterprise Zone residents.

Image courtesy of the city of Hillsboro.