In a scarce job year for teens MTC Works offers some opportunities

Published 5:00 pm Monday, May 31, 2010

Summer’s rolling around again and kids are looking for work.

They won’t have an easy time of it this season, according to national reports. Locally, it also looks to be a difficult job market for teens this year, according to Julie Gassner with MTC Works in Astoria. That’s because the recession has changed the job-hunting game.

“Kids are competing with moms and dads to get those jobs,” Gassner said. “Demand is great.”

She said MTC Works gets lots of job applications every summer from local youth; the agency hires kids via various programs. Last summer, federal stimulus money helped employ teens through the Oregon Youth Conservation Corps.

“We hired youth on conservation projects, like trail building and tech related jobs,” Gassner said.

Kids also worked clearing local campground areas at Ft. Stevens, Cullaby Lake and Ft. Clatsop. It was a chance to get some needed work done in those recreational areas, while teaching kids about ecology.

It’s not clear whether additional stimulus money will be available this summer, but the agency will have job funding through the Workforce Investment Act, Gassner said.

The Oregon Youth Employment Initiative and the Oregon Youth Conservation Corps programs will provide a total of about 90 jobs for teens this summer in Clatsop, Tillamook and Columbia counties.

MTC Works also hopes to encourage kids to think in terms of starting their own businesses through a national program called the “Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour,” which will visit the area this summer.

The California-based program was started by young entrepreneurs Sheena Lindahl and Michael Simmons, both of whom were named by Business Week Magazine in 2006 as two of the top 25 entrepreneurs under age 25 in the U.S.

Gassner said MTC hopes bringing the tour to the Coast will inspire young people to consider the idea of entrepreneurship.

“It will teach them how to get started – the fundamentals,” Gassner said.

That workshop will be held June 30; the tentative location is the Tillamook High School gym.

The session will give kids a taste of the possibilities for young people to excel in business.

Gassner said MTC is seeking local young entrepreneurs who might want to participate in the seminar.

“We are looking for young entrepreneurs 30 and under who might be willing to speak on a panel,” Gassner said, and discuss the benefits and challenges of starting and running a business.

In the coastal economy, kids can generally expect to find seasonal work in the areas of hospitality, food service, tourism, cannery work, Gassner said.

Most of these jobs pay minimum wage – $8.40 an hour.

Nationally, unemployment among 16-24 year olds is at nearly 20 percent. That’s almost doubled from 2007, just before the recession hit, according to a report in CNNMoney.

The high rate makes 2010 the worst year for kids to land a summer job since the Great Depression in the 1930s.

In Oregon, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 10.6 percent in March, compared to 9.7 nationally for that month.

In Clatsop County, March unemployment was 9.2 percent, up from 8.5 in February. The rate was about the same last year during the same month.

In Tillamook County, March unemployment was at 8.9 percent, up from 8.2 in February. The rate was 10.2 percent last year in March.

For more information about summer jobs and the Extreme Entrepreneurship Tour, contact (in Clatsop County) Debbie Newton at (503) 325-1156, (in Tillamook County) Jennifer Paul at (503) 842-3244, or (in Columbia County) Diana Nish at (503) 397-6495.