Edward Jones is a neighborhood-based investment firm that helps individual investors and small business owners reach their financial goals. Like many businesses, they need to grow and find qualified people to be successful. Before they started working closely with WorkSource Oregon, they would place an ad in the paper, hold an open house at a local branch, and hope to find one or two qualified candidates.
 
"We had no way to screen who would attend," says Investment Representative Ron Ward.
 
Things improved when the Edward Jones branch in Troutdale contacted the WorkSource Oregon Employment Department office in Gresham. They got the personal assistance of Account Representative Leslie Gaspard, who helped them develop an effective listing on the department's award-winning online job matching tool, iMatchSkills. Leslie then used iMatchSkills to identify qualified candidates and notify them of the Edward Jones opportunities. He also organized the recruitment process and set up appointments for interviews.
 
"It saves us a lot of time and effort - and gets us qualified people quickly," explains Ron. "With WorkSource Oregon, our efficiency in getting qualified people has probably doubled or tripled."
 
Since Edward Jones is considered by many to be your neighborhood brokerage firm, they are establishing many small branch offices in communities throughout the nation.
 
"The accountability level is very high," Ron says. "If I go to the grocery store, I run into my clients. That's the benefit of an Edward Jones office - that frequent contact."
 
The investment firm is so impressed with the results in Troutdale, they hope to expand their relationship with the department statewide, and will seek a similar level of service from workforce development agencies in other states.
 
"The staff has been absolutely above and beyond. I can't thank them enough for the job that they've done getting people identified, screened and into the workshops," Ron says. "The service has been great. The attention to detail has been great. Their enthusiasm - I couldn't imagine it being any better."
 
Find out how WorkSource Oregon services can help your business by contacting your nearest WorkSource Oregon Center. Click here to access iMatchSkills.