By Larry Sparks
The Eastern Plains Chamber of Commerce held its September Meeting Oct. 2. The meeting took place at Grace Community Church in Falcon.
The New Falcon Herald provided the breakfast of scones and light refreshments. Michelle Barrette, the publisher of the paper, delivered a fascinating retrospective on the history of the paper. She also discussed the focus and nature of its current reporting. Michelle provided copies of the October issue for all present.
The main presentation came from Traci Marques, the executive director/CEO of the Pikes Peak Workforce Center, which is the American Job Center serving El Paso and Teller counties. The Workforce Center’s mission is to connect vital businesses with work-ready job seekers and employer-driven services.
Traci presented on the numerous resources that are available to employers seeking to fill positions and to job seekers. The resources include job training, job services and job fairs. The U.S. Department of Labor and the state of Colorado are active partners in reducing unemployment and in fostering a more skilled workforce.
Traci provides leadership, direction and oversight and is responsible for long-range planning, development, direction, implementation and evaluation of programs supporting regional workforce development. She previously served as deputy director and prior to that served as customer service and community outreach director, and as the Business Relations Group team lead. She serves as co-chair of the Military, Veterans and Spouses Coalition, representing more than 40 community organizations with resources focused on helping transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses find meaningful employment.
For these efforts, Traci has been recognized for excellence by the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment for contributions to improvement and modernization of veterans’ services. Traci has completed The Grantsmanship Center’s Basic Grantsmanship and Social Enterprise Courses, the Center for Creative Leadership’s Community Leadership Program and the Leadership Pikes Peak Signature Program.The chamber meets on the first Wednesday of each month at Grace Community Church in Falcon. For more information, visit https://www.easternplainschamber.com/.
