SHARE:                                              

Date: September 16, 2003
Contact: Gregory Wald

Bismarck - U.S. Department of Labor Associate Director for the Center for Faith-based and Community Initiatives Erica Sager presented Job Service North Dakota today with the "Touching Lives and Communities Award" for its work on the SHARE Network, a project begun with a grant from the Department of Labor.

The award is in recognition of "the commitment to the lives you touch, the communities you service by empowering individuals to become successful and self-sufficient and by building partnerships with faith-based and community organizations."

"We are so pleased to present this award to North Dakota," said Sager. "This is the first time the Department of Labor has given this award to a state agency. Job Service North Dakota is a national leader in faith-based and community initiatives because of the SHARE Network and we think it's appropriate to honor that accomplishment with this award."

Sager added that the SHARE Network exemplifies President Bush's call for public and private entities to work together toward a common goal. For the SHARE Network, that goal is to eliminate barriers to employment.

"Job Service has done an outstanding job creating and expanding the SHARE Network," said Governor John Hoeven. "Working together with the public and private sectors creates a one-stop delivery system to provide training and assistance that benefits both the worker and the employer."

The SHARE Network began as a project in July 2002. Six employees from Job Service North Dakota were assigned part-time to the project. Their task was to canvass the state, forming partnership agreements between Job Service North Dakota and other organizations that helped customers eliminate barriers to employment. These barriers may include job training needs, emotional issues, or inadequate housing and food.

The SHARE Network focuses on bringing faith-based and community organizations together into partnerships that allow them to refer customers between organizations. They do this through an online directory of the member organizations. Because it is accessible to anyone with Internet access, the SHARE Network raises awareness of the types of services available in a community and allows for more efficient service delivery.

To date, over 500 different service providers are members of the SHARE Network, with over 100 different services available, ranging from Adult Education to Youth Services. The SHARE Network web site received over 2,000 unique visits during the months of June and July 2003.

This success has garnered the SHARE Network other national attention, as well. The SHARE Network's achievements earned it an Honorable Mention for the Pyramid Prize Award from the National Association of State Workforce Agencies (NASWA). The Pyramid Prize is awarded to a project that exemplifies the benefits of collaboration among diverse interests. Job Service North Dakota Executive Director Maren Daley is receiving the award this week on behalf of the agency.

Sager said she is confident the SHARE Network will continue to expand and prosper. One reason for her optimism is a Job Service decision to allow for-profit businesses to join the SHARE Network, in addition to the non-profit organizations it has targeted to this point. Any organization, public or private, that is dedicated to helping customers obtain, retain and advance in employment is welcome and encouraged to join the SHARE Network.

Associate Director Sager joined Job Service employees in SHARE Network training this morning and visited two other members of the SHARE Network this afternoon. "The SHARE Network's success is phenomenal. The excitement this initiative continues to generate is beyond our expectations. It has truly become a national example of success," she said.

To join the SHARE Network or to experience how it can help you, go to jobsnd.com, the Job Service North Dakota web site, and click on the link for the SHARE Network.