April 14, 2016 VOLUME 92 | ISSUE 35
LakewoodSentinel.com J E F F E R S O N C O U N T Y, C O L O R A D O
A publication of
Colorado workforce demand in focus A special report by Colorado Community Media Staff Report
With snow blowing in, security system installers work in all types of weather, keeping the new Red Rocks campus project on track. Photo by Crystal Anderson
Campus close to complete Red Rocks Community College Health Campus finish in sight By Crystal Anderson canderson@coloradocommunitymedia.com A new educational facility is nearing completion, bringing with it a world of innovative health care
instruction methods and technology to Arvada and the surrounding area. The Red Rocks Community College Health Campus remains on track to be built and ready for use for this fall’s enrollees.
“We’re excited to be at the front of health care education with the IPE (Inter-professional education) and the science labs,” said Cathy Rock, construction manager for the facility. ”This community college has a lot Campus continues on Page 5
CASAs help children navigate in life Volunteers there for kids in court system By Christy Steadman csteadman@colorado communitymedia.com The Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Jefferson and Gilpin Counties got started in 2001, and since then CASA volunteers
have helped more than 2,500 children. “When I think about all the children we’ve helped — literally thousands — I think, what if we weren’t here for them?” said Leah Varnell, executive director for CASA Jeffco/Gilpin. Still, she added, in the 15 years the organization has been in existence, only 30 percent to 40 percent of the
children in the court system got advocates. This past year, there were more than 1,000 open cases of child abuse and neglect in Jefferson and Gilpin counties. CASA volunteers were able to advocate for 416 of the children. CASA is always needing volunteers, Varnell said, and volunteers come from all different backgrounds, profes-
sions and personal experiences. Just under half work fullt-ime jobs, and the rest are students, retired or work part-time. April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and one way CASA spreads the word about the program is its annual Champions for Children Breakfast, which took CASA continues on Page 5
Group: Lakewood council broke Open Meetings Law Workshops are most popular new method for adding items to agendas By Clarke Reader creader@coloradocommunitymedia.com
PLACES OF WORSHIP We offer an inside look at several of our community’s holy sites on PAGE 12.
When it comes to city council, the topics that don’t make it to discussion are just as important for the public to know as those that do. Now Lakewood’s city council is taking steps to ensure more items of local concern are brought forward for discussion and the public can be there for it all. During the April 4 study session,
council decided to look at options for adding items to the agenda for debate and discussion. Those options include workshops and “looks ahead” at the end of regular council meetings. “This is an opportunity for this council to do things different,” said Mayor Adam Paul during the meeting. “I really want to focus on the future of this council and move these ideas forward.” The discussion followed on the heels of a March 29 article by Jeffrey Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, which said Lakewood’s Council continues on Page 8
With the fourth-lowest unemployment rate in the nation, 3 percent, Colorado has made mountainous gains when it comes to economic development following the recession that struck in December 2007 and lingered for years. Businesses are flocking to the Centennial State, and Coloradans are finding work. But employers increasingly are finding it difficult to find the right workers to fill their jobs. Metro North Chamber of Commerce President Angela Habben said, at least in her organization’s part of the Denver area, the workforce isn’t meeting the market demand. “Either employers can’t find workers willing to do the job or they can’t find prospects with the training required to meet position qualifications,” she said.
WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Information technology, skilled trades among the careers in demand Simon Fox, deputy director of Business and Funding Initiatives for the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade, said the demand is great for wokers in the fields of information technology and skilled trades. “There aren’t enough welders or carpenters,” he said. Democratic and Repbulican state lawmakers are working together to adMORE INSIDE dress this. The 10 bills comOn pages 6 and 7, prising a biparwe take a look at tisan package the Colorado Ready called Colorado to Work package, Ready to Work and at what is being are making their done now to train way through the the workforce in the Legislature. face of growing and The overchanging demand. riding theme is creating partnerships between the business and education communities, with the goal of developing a workforce that can meet Colorado’s growing and changing demands. For many business leaders, measures like these can’t be passed soon enough, given the massive growth the Denver metro area figures to see in coming years. “That’s a real supply-and-demand dilemma if we don’t act soon,” Habben said.