By Carrie Ghose – Staff reporter, Columbus Business First
A social enterprise call center in Franklinton that aims to build career paths out of poverty has been approved for up to $500,000 in job-training grants toward 300 jobs – the largest award yet in a three-year-old Franklin County workforce initiative.
Fortuity Calling LLC will be reimbursed training costs in stages as it moves customer support workers up through the ranks until they hit $15 an hour, under the agreement commissioners approved Tuesday. (The county defines a living wage as $14 an hour for a family of four.)
In conjunction with nonprofits, Fortuity also is surrounding its trainees with other supports, such as on-site child care and job-readiness coaching.
“We feel this employer, if this project goes the way we think it will, will be a model for other employers to follow,” said Michael Salvadore, workforce navigator at the county Economic Development and Planning Department. “It will help people enter the middle class.”
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