Twin Cities Business reported in August on a new job-training initiative called Platform to Employment, which is geared toward helping veterans and unemployed individuals age 50 and older.
 
Minneapolis is one of several U.S. Cities currently offering the initiative, and the Star Tribune reported this week that 25 Twin Cities residents are in the midst of a five-week training program. 
 
The City of Minneapolis selected 25 local residents who are now in a five-week training program. The training, offered through P2E, includes financial and career counseling, résumé writing, self-marketing tactics, and stress-reduction tips. Following training, the 25 applicants will be placed in eight-week internships with selected employers. The benefit to employers, according to the Minneapolis newspaper, is that the program subsidizes wages during the internship. The program’s goal is reportedly to offer participants permanent jobs that pay $25,000 to $75,000 per year.

 
The Star Tribune detailed the stories of a few participants, which include a former Northwest Airlines administrative worker, a 20-year Air Force veteran, and a woman who lost her job at the predecessor to Comcast cable.
 
The P2E program’s officials have said that so far 80 percent of its participants are placed in work-experience programs and 90 percent are offered full-time employment.
 
The newspaper said that employers including Ryan Companies, Bywater Business Solutions, Children’s Hospitals, the Builders Association of the Twin Cities, Rêve Consulting, Electramatic, Inc., and Target Corporation have expressed interest in offering internships.
 
City of Minneapolis Training Director Deb Bahr-Helgren told the Star Tribune that once the 25 applicants have been assessed based on their experience and skills, ‘‘we will be able to determine which employers have positions open that are a good fit. This is a great, low-risk opportunity for employers to hire the long-term unemployed and veterans.”
 
Bahr-Helgren recently told Twin Cities Business that if the P2E program works in Minneapolis, its directors hope to expand it throughout the Twin Cities and across the state.