South Central Workforce Development Board sees numbers go up

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – The South Central Workforce Development Board had a good year in 2023 – they were able to secure funding through a partnership with the city and county to fund the position of their New American Workforce Navigator, Ana Sancristoful, and their numbers have been high this year.

Sancristoful has been able to meet with well over 1,000 immigrants and refugees throughout last year, president and CEO Jon Sowards says that based on their data, the work documents of these New Americans was sent to as many as 3700 companies and up to 600 of these individuals are still working.

“I really believe that we were able to make a we can say a mix, you know, between that we work inside the community with the community respecting their values and and cultures and on the other hands introduce and help them to introduce at this new society that has a new system for us,” Sancristoful said.

This multifaceted approach has allowed many New Americans to find gainful employment with benefits, which has in turn led more people to the office from across the nation who, through word of mouth, found their way into Sancristoful’s office. Many of these people end up moving to the south central Kentucky area for work, bringing their families and tax dollars to the area.

“We offer the possibility. We prepare them, you know, to go at the permanent job. That is our goal for them, for this, for new Americans, communities. And on the other hand, we work directly with different companies and these companies believe that New America and are the new possibility employees for them,” Sancristoful said.