Department of Small Business Services (SBS) Commissioner Robert Walsh today announced the results of SBS' seventh Training Provider Report Card, which ranks and reports on the schools who accept vouchers issued at the City’s Workforce1 Career Centers to train New Yorkers for employment in growth occupations. The latest report card indicates that the number of New Yorkers who complete training rose to 87 percent in 2006 from 79 percent in 2004 and the number of New Yorkers who found employment upon completion of training increased to 59 percent in March 2007 from 50 percent in April 2005.

"Monitoring and holding training providers accountable has had a direct impact on completion and employment rates, ensuring that more New Yorkers are finishing the training they start and finding jobs afterwards," said Commissioner Walsh. "This report card will help jobseekers make accurate and well-informed decisions when searching for the most appropriate training course or program leading to a job."

The increase in training completion and job placement rates comes as a result of new policies to ensure greater transparency and efficacy in City-funded training programs. SBS has implemented a new technology program, Worksource1, to collect training completion and job placement data and then publish the results on a public-facing website. To build on the success of the report cards, SBS is now in the process of integrating the data into a new online Training Guide which will provide jobseekers with an interactive, searchable database to view and compare the performance and offerings of training providers.

Additionally, SBS has career counseling that pairs Workforce1 Career Center customers with knowledgeable career advisors to explore high-growth industries, create individualized employment plans and, when appropriate, select training programs that are likely to lead directly to employment. As a result of these career services and the data available to customers on the report card, jobseekers are making better-informed decisions about training, leading directly to greater rates of training completion and job attainment.