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Catalogue Blog

In The News …

Can job training help solve the jobs crisis? (Washington Post Blogs): “In the southern US, 51 percent of current job openings are middle-skill, but only 43 percent of the region’s workers are trained to that level, according to a recent study by the National Skills Coalition [...] In a major speech next week, ‘s expected to propose support for job training as part of his renewed push for job growth, focusing especially on the 6.2 million Americans who’ve been out of work for more than six months.” In other words, the current jobs crisis is two-fold: too few entry-level jobs and too few workers for middle-skill opportunities. For some innovative solutions right in DC, check out Catalogue non-profits Byte Back (where adults can access Advanced Certification training and mentorship in technological fields) and New Course Restaurant and Catering (where the kitchen staff all receive comprehensive on-the-job training in commercial food preparation and customer service). Or learn about one our newest non-profits, the DC Students Construction Trades Foundation.

Breaking: Alexandria coal power plant to close next year (Greater Greater Washington): “This morning, the City of Alexandria announced an agreement with GenOn Energy that will shut down the Potomac River Generating Station on Alexandria’s waterfront by October 2012. The closure is an air quality and environmental justice win for the region in the longer term, the waterfront site offers redevelopment opportunities [...] The plant has become both less critical to the region’s energy needs and more expensive to GenOn as a result of pollution reduction agreements with the City of Alexandria.” GGW also points out that the closure of the plant did not factor into the city’s Waterfront Small Area Plan, so its redevelopment is certainly an open question. Any ideas or suggestions? And for those interested in environmental stewardship and education in Virginia, check out our Nature non-profits (sorted by region).

Fundraising needs to change (Inside Philanthropy): “The charitable marketplace is undergoing dramatic change, a transformation that demands nonprofits change the way they raise money [...] So rethinking the way they raise money is critical for their survival [... Donors] now want to get involved, truly involved, to make a difference [...] So nonprofits need to shift the focus of their charitable brokering by truly getting to know donors and helping them understand their community, the role the nonprofits play, and the impact a gift can have in helping the nonprofit address urgent community needs,” writes Todd Cohen, editor and publisher of the Philanthropy Journal at NC State University. Here at Catalogue, we’re focused on just that: communicating precisely what a gift to one of our non-profits can accomplish, both for the organization itself and for the community that we all share. How do you think that local (and national) non-profits can best communicate that? What is a good example?

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