Hire Colorado puts people back to work as interns

By Cherry Sokoloski
North Forty News

Ross Klutke of Livermore is getting back on his feet financially, with help from a state-funded program called Hire Colorado.

After being accepted into the program by the Larimer County Workforce Center, he began work recently as a paid intern with a local software company.

The Workforce Center began placing interns in January and has now placed about 125 people, according to program coordinator Adam Crowe. Boulder and Weld counties are also participating in Hire Colorado.

Klutke is brushing up on his computer skills through the job and hopes that his résumé will be more attractive to potential employers once the program is finished. The state pays his wages for the term of the internship program.

At the time his internship started, Klutke was facing several challenges – not unlike those of many others in the current recession. He is 68, but he and his wife, Lori, can't afford to retire. Their savings were used up when both were unemployed, and the couple still have two children at home to support.

Klutke owns his own business, but because it is related to the real estate market, work dried up in the past year along with real estate sales. Now, he needs to get back into the computer field where he worked for 30 years, and he needs to refresh his skills in the fast-changing industry.

Hire Colorado is helping to solve some of those problems. Klutke is bringing home a regular paycheck, and his internship is bringing him back up to speed with computer technology.

Klutke has an impressive work background. He earned a master's degree in business administration at Willamette University in Oregon, started his own computer business, and went on to work for several large companies, always in computer-related positions.

He decided to change horses in the late 1990s and began teaching computer classes at the Community College of Aurora. He loved the job, but was laid off in 2002 because of the poor economy.

Shortly after that, the Klutkes moved to Fort Collins and he formed his own company, the Odd Job Man. Working through real estate companies, he readied homes for sale by fixing minor problems. However, the slowdown in housing sales also affected his business, and by November 2009, "there was practically no work at all."

Others who had lost jobs also began doing handyman work, so competition was high for the few jobs available. Klutke still maintains his business, but he now does those jobs on weekends.

Earlier this year, Klutke finally decided to register with the Larimer County Workforce Center. There, he found out about Hire Colorado. Klutke was accepted into the program and started his internship at the local company in mid-May.

"It's a tremendous opportunity to dust off my résumé, and it makes my wife happy, too," Klutke said with a grin.

The internship lasts just 14 weeks, but by then Klutke hopes the economy will be better and he will be able to find a full-time computer job.

Klutke has nothing but praise for the people at the Workforce Center. "They've been great," he said. "Everyone shows a personal concern for people in the program."

Hire Colorado, implemented in 10 counties in the state, is a partnership between the Colorado Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor. HHS is providing funding for the program, which has put 1,667 people to work statewide. Program cost was about $10.7 million throughout Colorado and just over $1 million in Larimer County.

Interns in Larimer County, said Crowe, come from all work backgrounds. They vary in age from 18 to over 70. Positions vary widely and include engineering jobs, fund-raising work, filing of medical records and working with children.

Hire Colorado is a boon for employers, Crowe noted, since the state pays the wages, taxes and workers' compensation for each person in the program. Nearly 70 Larimer County companies, both large and small, are involved in the program.

Some businesses, Crowe said, participate in order to help out their community. But for others, the internship program has meant an opportunity to grow. Crowe cites one Loveland business that needed to expand but didn't have the capital to hire more workers. The company brought on five interns through Hire Colorado and as a result was able to secure new contracts. All five people were hired when their internships ended.

There are benefits in the wider economy, too. When more people are working, there's more money to spend. People are paying bills, or buying a second car, or taking the children to the movies. As a result, Crowe pointed out, the internship program has "a wave effect" on the economy.

For the interns, many of whom have been looking for work for several months, Hire Colorado is a chance to get back on their feet. This year's program is now full, Crowe said, but he hopes funds will be available again next year. Even if it's not, he stressed, "We're always here to help people find employment, in a variety of ways."