City council's approved spending three million of your tax dollars on a new chapter of the city's Ready-To-Work program. Since it started in 2020, Alamo Colleges has taken the lead on that workforce development. That $3 million will be used to reimburse companies to do the hiring... and training.
The motion for the ordinance was approved by every present council member but questions of small business support remain. We spoke with Councilwoman Teri Castillo today who says that even though she has concerns about why larger employers need the funding-"Ultimately, while this is a pilot, and there's opportunity for city council to go back to the drawing board and recalibrate, I know district five small businesses are counting on the support," she said.
"Large companies; if they haven't a change in business need, where they require a different skill set from their workers, if those companies aren't able to infuse those skills here locally, that won't work. And those contracts may go elsewhere. That's not any good to any of us."