The 1993 movie ‘Dave’ starring Kevin Kline revolves around a community-minded man who runs a Washington, D.C.-based temporary employment agency with a goal of ensuring everyone who needs a job can find one. Dave has a saying: “Everybody works on Tuesday.”
It’s a wonderful movie that tells the story of how Dave so closely resembles the President of the United States that he is recruited to stand in for the President, who then takes advantage of Dave’s presence to hook up with an aide. When the President has a stroke, Dave is stuck in the job.
The story takes off from there, and I encourage you to watch it. It’s a feel good fantasy.
But reviewing Dave is not the purpose of this post. I recently discovered a local not-for-profit skills training and employment agency called SidexSide OKC that made me think of Dave and his “Everybody works on Tuesday” motto. Check out SidexSide’s website.
In a mission statement on its website, SidexSide says it exists “to build a bridge between underemployed talent and local employers.” The agency provides paid skills training and employment opportunities to people who are referred to it from partner entities like the TEEM, Palomar, Sunbeam Family Services and others.
The “underemployed,” as SidexSide calls them, are placed in cohorts of about 12-15 people and coached up, so to speak, in a nine-week training course that requires them to be present and on-time for each session. Part of the course involves classroom sessions, followed by job shadowing with potential employers who partner with SidexSide.
I stumbled upon SidexSide recently when it held a job fair that included a Long Term Care facility that participates in the Care Careers Oklahoma, a workforce development initiative of Care Providers Oklahoma, where I work part time.
My mission at the job fair was to shoot photos and post them on social media for Care Providers.
SidexSide has offices on the second floor of a downtown building, which also houses a bicycle sales shop. You could walk around the building a dozen times and not spot the glass entrance door that displays the SidexSide logo.
I know, because it took me several tries to find it.
Anyway, when I walked in I discovered a large room filled with people sitting at tables and chatting with one another. Then a bell rang and one person got up from each table and sat down at a different table.
Turns out, this was a sort of ‘speed dating,’ get-to-know-you job fair.
I met several SidexSide employees, including Matt Tecmire, Director of Employment Services, Ricardo Lara, Career Navigator and Community Liaison, and Liz Honeyman, Programs Support Specialist. Those folks gave me a quick overview of how the agency operates before introducing me to Chad Jordan, SidexSide’s founder and Chief Executive Officer.
Chad told me that SidexSide began about a year and a half ago with a federal grant, and that it now has support from several local entities. It lists multiple referral partners, education partners and employment partners on its website.
As we were chatting, I began to see the image of the fictional Dave in my mind, and his drive to make sure everyone has a job.
SidexSide works to ensure that folks who might be struggling because of life’s circumstances are provided paid skills training and long-term job opportunities.
Obviously, some great brainstorming went into this endeavor. And, from what I can see, SidexSide’s awesome work is being done below the radar of most everyone in our community.
My colleague Tanecia Davis, who is Director of Workforce Development for Care Providers Oklahoma and manages the Care Careers program, had a similar reaction after the SidexSide experience
“Today, I had the pleasure of visiting SidexSide OKC for their career fair, and I was thoroughly impressed by the exceptional work they are doing to support underemployed individuals,” she said in a Facebook post. “Their primary objective is to help these individuals with the necessary resources and skills to secure sustainable employment.’
It’s encouraging to know there are people like those of the SidexSide team who are out there working for the greater good every day in Oklahoma City.
Say it with me. ‘Everybody works on Tuesday.’
BONUS CONTENT: Watch this video with SidexSide board member Teresa Rose, Executive Director, Communities Foundation of Oklahoma, as she talks about the mission and impact on our community of SidexSide.
Jim Stafford's BlogOKC 