Massachusetts' top labor official wants jobs filled
Suzanne Bump, the state secretary of labor and workforce development, will visit Salem on Wednesday to launch a new effort to fill job vacancies across Massachusetts.
"North Shore in Demand" is the first of several gatherings planned for education and business leaders to address workforce training and education issues. The goal is to find ways to match people with jobs. About 125,000 people are out of work in Massachusetts, and 83,000 jobs are unfilled, according to state data.
The dilemma stems in part from a lack of people trained to work in healthcare, high technology, engineering, and other growing industries, said Mary Sarris, executive director of the North Shore Workforce Investment Board in Salem.
"A lot of the openings are for highly skilled positions," Sarris said. "They require a lot of math and science skills. What we need to do is seriously rethink what and how we're teaching people, whether they are high school students or adults, so that they feel ready, or confident, to pursue these jobs."
Education will be a key focus of Wednesday's meeting, scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. at the Community Room at SalemFive Bank on Essex Street. About 80 business and educational leaders have registered to attend. North Shore Community College, Salem State College, and vocational high schools in Danvers, Lynn, and Middleton are cosponsoring the event.
Minimum bids will be $190,000, $200,000, $210,000, and $220,000, depending on the size of the unit. The auction will not be held at the condo complex. It is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. at the Boston Marriott Peabody hotel in Centennial Park.
"It's a buyer's market," said Bob Cole, president of Velocity Marketing Services in Burlington, the auction company. "This auction will give them the chance to set their own price."
The median price of a condominium sold in Peabody in March was $183,900, compared with $231,000 in the same month last year, according to Banker & Tradesman, a Boston-based publisher of real estate data.
The Residences at Peabody Crossing opened in late 2005. The two-bedroom units range in size from 1,059 to 1,240 square feet. At its peak, condos in the four-story building sold for as much as $350,000, with as many as eight units sold in a week, Cole said. "At first, the units sold like hotcakes. Now we're down to about one per month. At that rate, the developers could be in this for another two years. No seller wants to be in a project that long."
Patrick then introduced Jennifer Warry, 28, a single mother who once lived at Wellspring's family shelter. "I have a funny feeling, that in years to come . . . she is going to help so many others," Patrick said.
With Wellspring's help, Warry has forged a new life. She and her 8-year-old son live in an affordable apartment. She was accepted into the One Scholars Program, a scholarship fund for single women who are heads of households. She received an associate's degree from North Shore Community College, and is to graduate next year from the University of Massachusetts with a bachelor's degree in political science.
Warry works part time at a Salem law firm, and hopes to earn a law degree. She also vows never to forget the help she found at Wellspring House. "These women listened," Warry said, her voice breaking. "They believed in me when I did not believe in myself. They knew my family needed what all families need - a safe home, a means to an education, and a job to pay the bills."
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com. 