Grand Rapids, MI

WANTO 1^st Year Grant—Awarded September 1994

The Women's Resource Center (WRC) provided technical assistance to employers and labor unions in West Michigan to promote outreach, hiring, and retention of women in apprenticeship programs and nontraditional occupations. Most of the technical assistance was one-on-one contact with management and supervisory personnel to shape decision making for workplace change to enhance the advancement of women in apprenticeship and nontraditional occupations (NTOs). The direct technical assistance was supplemented with an employer/union newsletter focused on removing gender barriers to nontraditional employment opportunities, a computerized database to match women and apprenticeships and job vacancies, and an interactive video conference linking the employer/union network with women seeking employment.