New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin unveiled a plan last fall to fully reinvent the city's Office of Workforce Development. With newfound purpose and well-defined goals, the new program -- renamed Job 1 -- has since become a top priority of the mayor's office. It aims to help workers better market themselves, respond to the need of small businesses, and develop a strong, stable, and educated workforce for the future. Nagin is confident that Job 1 will create new opportunities not only for individuals and businesses, but ultimately, for the entire local economy.

"We are offering new strategic solutions on how to deal with and tackle old problems." Nagin said. "This is a comprehensive approach to strengthening our workforce."

In that spirit, Nagin announced the implementation of two innovative new workforce development programs that will be coordinated through the new Job 1 office. The first, called "Youth Work New Orleans," is a recently launched summer job and youth training program, created as a public-private partnership. The second is a new literacy initiative that gives workers the skills to be more productive and raise their own earning power.

Youth Work New Orleans has been developed to expose New Orleans children to new career paths. In recent months, Nagin has been gathering pledges from local businesses to provide summer employment opportunities through the Youth Work program. Organizations, from Northrop Grumman to Six Flags New Orleans have already promised over 200 positions. Nagin said he hopes to create 2,000 new jobs specifically for New Orleans youth by June.

For those 2000-plus young New Orleans workers, their summers will start with a two-week orientation run by Youth Work. Participants will prepare resumes and undergo mock interviews. They will learn basic job skills and have the opportunity to choose work in the industries that most interest them. Then it's off into the real world. Job 1 will coordinate payroll and benefits for all of the participants.

"I am asking the private sector to help mentor a new generation of young workers who will bring a new level of vitality to New Orleans businesses," Nagin said. The participating companies get well-trained, energetic, and highly motivated workers. The young workers enjoy the opportunity to build their skills and expand their experiences.

"Meaningful summer work prepares young people for the workforce, inspires them to dedicate themselves to their education, and makes them more likely to be successful upon graduation," Nagin said.

Meanwhile, in his second new initiative, Nagin is looking at the needs of working adults. Nearly two out of every five New Orleans Parish citizens function with only the most basic literacy. Many of them work with local businesses, but their limited skills create a huge obstacle to advancement and productivity. Turnover rates and additional expenses soar as a result. So last week, Nagin launched a literacy program in which local companies will be encouraged to bring in a free, customized literacy training program for their employees.

With the Literacy Alliance of New Orleans and national experts, Job 1 has trained representatives from local community-based organizations that will serve as reading instructors. This spring two local businesses, Bollinger Shipyards and Methodist Hospital, will serve as test cases.

"Improving the reading skills of our citizens will have an immediate and lasting impact on their lives," Nagin said. "As we increase literacy skills we will also raise the earning power of our citizens and help New Orleans businesses reach new levels of productivity."

Nagin has triumphantly proclaimed New Orleans, once again, "open for business." With his surprise election in May 2002, Nagin swept into office with a vow to rid the city government of corruption. He followed with the arrest that year of more than 80 criminal city workers and the complete restructuring of the Utilities Department. The move gave voters hope that Nagin could turn the struggling city around. Now with Job 1, he seeks to take the next step, helping both local businesses and the people who work for them, to thrive.