The Vets and the Rest – Back to Work Through Innovation (BWTI) ™ Initiative is a grass-roots effort sponsored by JASZ Technology, to get Americans back to work.

Technology jobs traditionally aren’t gained through an apprenticeship, so none of the rules instructions, and information on establishing a recognized or “official” apprenticeship program addresses the 21^st Century apprenticeship.  See how we resolve our first challenge. I should explain what an “official” apprenticeship program is. It’s an apprenticeship program that’s registered and approved by your state’s Department of Labor.  Generally, you can setup an apprenticeship program at your company without registering it with the state, but there are some benefits to having an official or registered and approved apprenticeship program. We’ll invite an Apprenticeship Consultant from the North Carolina Department of Labor’s Apprenticeship and Training Bureau to tell you the specific benefits in the near future.

We wanted to ensure that we were setting up a world-class apprenticeship program because we plan to add an “Apprenticeship” module to the open source software that we’ll release as part of the BWTI initiative, so that other states and businesses around the nation won’t have to re-create the wheel when they join the Back to Work movement. We’ll do the heavy lifting by way of creating the wheel, by setting up an apprenticeship program at our company, and then we’ll program what we did into the software so that it’ll walk your business through the apprenticeship setup process faster and easier than we were able to do from scratch. I believe the only thing that you should create from scratch is a good meal. For everything else, just re-configure the same old wheel to suit your needs.

There’s no lack of apprenticeship resources available from the Department of Labor and other online resources, but I have to tell you – taking it all in was kind of like trying to get a sip of water from a fire hose. It was too much, too, fast, and overwhelming. My team and I downloaded a ton of information then peered over our laptop screens at each other, as we sat around the conference room table, with a “what have we gotten ourselves into?” look on our faces. Then I picked up the telephone and … well you’ll have to come back tomorrow to find out.

The Vets and the Rest – Back to Work Through Innovation (BWTI) ™ Initiative is a grass-roots effort sponsored by JASZ Technology, to get Americans back to work, but it didn’t start out that way. We have a new Sales Director, and he came up with the idea to recruit new Account Representatives into an apprenticeship. This would give inexperienced sales people an opportunity to learn while actually working in their new career. Meanwhile our company benefits from training, and in some cases certifying, our sales force in the techniques that work for our organization. At the end of the apprenticeship the employee has a new career, opportunities for advancement, and skills that are transferable to any company, and we get the ideal Account Representative. I thought this was such a brilliant idea that it struck me that we could apply the apprenticeship concept to other labor categories like Software Engineer, and Help Desk Analyst.  Well, the universe being what it is, I met other like-minded people interested in creating jobs, and one thing lead to another. Soon our little apprenticeship program morphed into a movement and became the Vets and the Rest – Back to Work Through Innovation (BWTI) ™ Initiative.

Our initiative will be a multi-phased approach:

1. Apprenticeships
2. Community collaboration
3. Employing technology to get Vets and the Rest back to work
4. The Back to Work conference

JASZ Technology officially kicks-off its apprenticeship program and the Vets and the Rest – Back to Work Through Innovation Initiative on January 12, 2012. Vets are Veterans of course, the “Rest” is the long-term unemployed, college and high school graduates, and others seeking work.

We’re organizing the conference as an opportunity for North Carolinians, especially Veterans, looking for work or a new career to learn about apprenticeships. To give businesses of all sizes an opportunity to learn about the benefits of establishing an apprenticeship program, and the steps to take to get started.

We’ve only just begun our apprenticeship program and kicked of the Back to Work project, so join us tomorrow where we’ll tell you about the first challenge we faced.

Welcome to our new blog series. My name is Antoinette Taylor, but call me Toni, everyone does.  I’m President and CEO at JASZ Technology. We’re a small tech firm in Raleigh, NC who’s just set out on an enormous and terrifying mission – to solve the jobs problem in America.  I know what you’re thinking, that’s what our government is for.

Well I’m a do-it-yourself kind of lady so I’m not waiting for Superman to come and save our nation, restore the economy, and put men and women back to work. I believe we the collective have the power to fix the jobs problem ourselves. Not five years from now but starting today. John F. Kennedy said, “We believe that if men have the talent to invent new machines that put men out work, they have the talent to put those men back to work.

Fast forward to the 21st Century, we’re going to use technology to put women, men, Veterans returning from the war, High School and College grads, and the long-term unemployed back to work through the “Vets and the Rest – Back to Work Through Innovation (BWTI) initiative. The nation’s trying to figure out how to create jobs for the California Carpenter that’s been out of work since the housing bubble burst, or the New York Seamstress that can only get 20-hours a week because the business people that used to bring in suits for tailoring have been laid off. Perhaps it’s the Sergeant that’s about to retire from the military after 20-years and doesn’t know what his next career will be. Maybe it’s the 22-year old Navy Veteran that needs frequent time off for doctor visits to care for injuries she got in the war, or the High School grad with no skills and no job prospects.  What about the company with jobs to fill but the available workforce doesn’t have the education, training, experience, certification or license required for the position.

In our blog series we’re going to tell the story of how we’re getting Americans BACK TO WORK! – One job at a time, in the hope that if we answer the question for our company, and our state, that other businesses can re-create the solution throughout the nation. We’re going to share our challenges, failures, and successes with you so follow us on our journey.

Learn more about the BWTI Movement Here: http://www.jasztech.com/bwti/