Posted by Charles Rehberg on May 15, 2017
 
 
 
North Notes
Spokane North Rotary Club Bulletin
May 15, 2017
 
Rotary Exchange students ready for visits
            Three Spokane students visited the May 15 club as they prepare for Rotary Exchange trips this spring and summer.
 
            Jacqie Egger and Mariesa Sjoberg, both North Central juniors in the acclaimed genomics program, are headed to Spain.  Jacqie will live in Barcelona and Mariesa will visit Pamplona. Lauren Harland, a Lewis and Clark junior, will attend Bisceglie, Italy.  Bisceglie is a city of 55,000 on the Adriatic’s southern coast.
 
            Coordinator Chris Lynch said the three outbound students will join three inbound Rotary Exchange students July 20 at the Silverwood Theme Park.  Club members have donated $232 – nearly the $270 trip goal -- for the Silverwood trip, Lynch said.
 
Briefly:
          What a ride!: Thanks to a donation by Bill Simer one auction item at the club’s annual fund drive June 7 is a ride in a Lotus 23 to be scheduled sometime in 2018.  Simer will drive in the infield race course at the Indy 500 Speedway June 13 to qualify for the Lotus super-car ride next year.
 
          Meanwhile, tickets and other auction items are due soon for fund drive coordinator Robbie Jackson.  Monday, May 22, is a big collection date because the club does not meet on Memorial Day (May 29) and June 5, prior to the June 7 event.  Robbie will arrange collections prior to the fund drive date, but collection items are needed earlier to stage baskets and other list arrangements.
 
          Think Mobius: Sandy Fink still needs two more members to help along with Dave and Robin Hayward at the Mobius science night with Holmes.  The event is Wednesday, May 31, about 6 to 7 p.m. at the Holmes school. 
 
          Helping Heroes: Club members Daria Brown and Tim Zacharias will help at the June 14 final Golden Heroes afternoon assembly for the school year at Holmes.
 
          Teed off:  Coach Dave Hayward, Steve Boharski. Chad Haverkamp and Chuck Rehberg represented the club at the Spokane Valley Rotary’s fund raiser at the Trailhead 9-Hole Tournament in Liberty Lake.  One Valley Rotarian at the event was former Spokane-North member and new national celebrity Terry Fossum, the co-winner of Fox-TV’s “Kicking and Screaming” survivor-style show. Terry’s wife, Michele Fossum, our club member, has been a generous “Happy Bucks” donor as Terry’s adventure continued. The Spokane-North golf team scored a 32 at one under par.  Thanks to Hayward’s diligent reporting Rehberg won the $100 pot for shots landing on the green.  The money was donated to the Happy Bucks celebration and to the Dine Out Spokane for Kids fund drive.
 
Agency provides job tools and opportunities
 
          Though the bad-old days of the recession of 10 years ago has waned, getting a job, or finding new quality employees, still is not easy.
 
         As Rob Crow, the Employment Security Department administrator at WorkSource Spokane, the rules continue to change for job seekers.
 
          Lifetime, or even long-time career opportunities are far less frequent now, Crow told the May 15 club luncheon.”“Most people land only seven years on a job on average and most career positions are only 15 years,” Crow said.
Thus, he said, “The permanent solution to getting a job is developing skills for job seekers” who can transfer to other positions.
 
          New resumes and need retraining are essential for most veteran people who need, or want, to change jobs, Crow said.
 
          In his own career, Crow worked with his dad as they establish Lloyd Industries, a metallurgic work company, then moved to public service on the Spokane City Council, to the Workforce Transition position at Spokane Falls Community College, to “re-imagining” the City of Spokane’s Community, Housing and Human Services Department, to his current position.
 
          WorkSource’s website  is “a partnership of state, local and non-profit agencies for employment and training services for job seekers and employers.”  The network says some 170,000 workers and 5,600 employers used the facilities statewide last year.  
 
          Crow said that since the Spokane market has more small and mid-size companies “than the Boeings and Amazons” of the world, it’s important to use the synergy of public and private agencies to “connect people of the right people with the right jobs.”
 
          Asking for volunteers of “cohort openings,” Crow was told bookkeeper and professional receptionists are among short supply in Spokane area positions.
 
          Crow also said the “silver tsunami,” the exodus of retirees, also requires new employee training.
 
          “Gone are the days where just visiting GSI (Greater Spokane, Inc.) or sharing businesses cards will need skill sets that match” employees and employees, he said.
 
 
The bulletin producers:
          Bulletin editors: Chuck Rehberg and Sandy Fink
          Photo: Eric Johnson 
          Program coordinator: Brad Stark