Overview
Building a New Workforce Platform
About WORKNOW
This investment in a collaborative partnership with state and local government employers and community-based service providers expanded the Community College of Denver’s Center for Workforce Initiatives and established it as WORKNOW, metro Denver’s first collective impact workforce platform. Through WORKNOW, low-income families can access construction industry training, resources and job supports that empower them to participate in local economic development projects.
We are on the right track—and we can do even better. The construction industry provides critical career pathways to the middle class, and many positions provide family-sustaining wages and health benefits.” — Tracey Stewart, Family Economic Security Investment Director, Gary Community Investments
Purpose of Funding
Denver’s rapid growth has impacted many communities through rising housing costs and displacement. WORKNOW supports Colorado’s intention to use infrastructure projects, like the Colorado Department of Transportation’s Central 70 expansion, to provide parents with pathways to middle-class wages through local hire requirements. Our investment ensures that WORKNOW takes a two-generation approach to mitigating employment barriers for its participants, including creating a funding stream for a network of child care centers along the Central 70 corridor. By offering supportive services like child care, we can help ensure the success of the parents who want to do more for themselves and their families.
Amount Funded
$1,062,528
Funding Period
2017 - 2019
Outcome Area
Family Economic Security
Sharing in Denver's Economic Expansion
Being born into poverty can severely restrict a child’s opportunities in life. But boosting families’ income and helping them build assets improves children’s short- and long-term education, health and economic outcomes. Programs like WORKNOW, which promote job training and entrepreneurship, lead to economic advancement for families, providing them with the resources to stay in their homes, support their children and share in the benefits of Denver’s economic expansion. Over the past year, WORKNOW has made the following impact on families and the local workforce ecosystem.
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Families experienced a 20 percent gain toward economic self-sufficiency
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Average hourly wage for WORKNOW participants, which is an increase from $10.43/hour
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Boost in new revenue for the local economy
A step toward college
Eighteen-year-old Ivan Quiroz, who lives in the Swansea neighborhood with his two brothers, learned about the WORKNOW program through a community hiring fair hosted in November 2018. After a few weeks of training, he received a hard hat from Sturgeon Electric Company, along with full-time employment building traffic signal housing at Sturgeon’s Central 70 headquarters, which is located within walking distance from his house. Because of WORKNOW, Ivan has a better-paying job, and he plans to put the money he earns toward achieving his next career goal: attending college. Learn how WORKNOW has impacted workers like Ivan, local families and the workforce ecosystem:
