Louisville launches 10th season of Summer Works to connect youths with local employers

LOUISVILLE, KY. (WDRB) -- Louisville leaders on Thursday launched the 10th season of SummerWorks, a program that connects youths with employers looking for help over the summer.

The program provides young people with valuable skills and experience and helps businesses mitigate labor shortages. The office of Mayor Greg Fischer said in a news release that a 2019 study conducted by the Kentucky Center for Statistics found the program also boosts graduation and employment rates.

Employers that will participate this year include some of Louisville’s biggest and most prestigious companies, such as GE Appliances, Humana and UPS.

Fischer launched SummerWorks in 2011, when the city struggled with a high teen unemployment rate, and a federal program that helped youngsters find jobs was being phased out.

“Looking back over the past nine years, it’s amazing to see how much this program has grown — from just 200 participants in its first year, to more than 6,900 last season,” Fischer said in a news release. “We’ve set a goal to build the nation’s best talent development pipeline here in Louisville, and SummerWorks is a critical piece of that plan.”

Fischer and Jefferson County Public Schools Superintendent Marty Pollio also announced that SummerWorks is expanding its partnership with the Academies of Louisville at JCPS. Nearly 300 academy students this summer will be placed in jobs related to their career sectors, such as technology, health care and advanced manufacturing.

Pollio said it’s vital that students get the chance to explore possible professions.

“Thanks to SummerWorks and our corporate partners, JCPS students are getting that opportunity with a real job with real responsibility and a real paycheck,” Pollio said.

The program is funded primarily through the city. Private donors, including the James Graham Brown Foundation, Community Foundation of Louisville, Mary Gwen Wheeler and David Jones Jr., sponsor jobs for the teens.

The program is operated by YouthBuild Louisville and KentuckianaWorks.

Louisville Metro Government cut the program’s funding by $100,000 for this year, to $500,000, but Fischer donated 20% of his salary to help offset the cut, the mayor’s office said.