[1] Good morning, and thank you for giving me a few minutes between the eggs and the coffee refills. I see many faces I know from last year, and some new ones too. I run the county's summer jobs program for teenagers, and I came here this morning with one request. This summer, I am asking each business in this room to hire one teenager for eight weeks through our program.
[2] A first job teaches things that a classroom cannot: how to show up on time, how to take directions, and how to stay calm when a customer is upset. Last summer, 60 local businesses hired 112 teens through our program. When we called them in September, 52 said their teens were doing the job well by the second week, and 49 said they would hire through the program again. Several owners told us that their teens learned the register faster than some adults they had hired.
[3] Hiring through the program also costs less than you might think. For the first four weeks, the program pays half of each teen's wages. We screen every applicant, and before the first day on the job, every teen finishes a two-day class on work basics, such as calling in when sick and counting change at a register. We also handle the paperwork. If a problem comes up during the summer, you call us, and we will help you sort it out.
[4] The good that a summer job does lasts long after the summer ends. Of the teens who finished our program last year and answered our fall survey, 9 out of 10 were still in school in October. A summer job keeps young people on track.
[5] Teenagers also bring something that you cannot buy. A teen behind your counter makes every customer feel welcome, and a young worker's energy lifts the whole staff.
[6] I know that some of you are remembering a summer when you hired a teenager who quit after a week. That can happen. But last summer, only 5 of our 112 teens left a job before the eight weeks were up, and we found a new teen for each of those businesses within a few days.
[7] There is a sign-up card on every table. Fill it out before you leave this morning, and someone from our office will call you within a week to talk about the kind of help you need. Give a teenager a first job this summer. You may find the best worker you have ever had.
