LANSING – Michigan Works! expects to place 800 more unemployed Macomb and St. Clair county residents into jobs after receiving about $1.4 million in additional funds, Director John Bierbusse said.

The state’s 25 Michigan Works! agencies received $18.2 million for both youth and adult training.  The awards are left over from federal grants distributed earlier by the Department of Labor and Economic Growth.

The Macomb and St. Clair agencies, which operate employment and resource centers in Clinton Township, Roseville, Port Huron and Mount Clemens, received about $728,000 for adult activities and nearly $704,000 for youth activities, bringing their total to about $1.7 million.

“The programs serve economically disadvantaged individuals,” Bierbusse said.  “We need to point them in the right direction.”

Youth programs are often partnered with school districts to help teens earn high school diplomas and advance into career placement or post-secondary education.  Depending on students’ need, the agency pays for students’ tuition to vocational schools and community colleges.

Adult services include Internet job postings, resume help, classroom training to create better interviewing and job-seeking skills, and money for tuition for occupational training for high-demand jobs.

Ed Oberski, director of the Saginaw Midland Bay Michigan Works! said the agencies strive to make people marketable and competitive candidates for employers.

“Our philosophy is to make people that employers are going to want to hire,” Oberski said.

For example, Delphi Corp. asked his tri-county agency to help fill 500 openings last summer, and 73 were filled with participants from its adult programs.

“We work to make employers satisfied.  We are here for great customer service for Michigan employers, not the job seekers,” Oberski said.  “Because of this philosophy, we’ve placed 50 percent more adult workers, from 300 to 450 in the last two years, without increasing any funding.”

The recent minimum wage increase from $5.15 to $6.95 an hour shouldn’t adversely affect job placement, said Robert Swanson, director of the Department of Labor and Economic Growth. As many as 450,000 people in Michigan are living well below the poverty level, and Swanson said the pay increase will ease the problem and boost the economy.

“Every time it gets raised, either nationally or in a given state, there are fears that rise in the employer community that we have to lay people off or that there will be an increase in businesses that just won’t make it,” Swanson said.  “History usually shows that, when there’s a minimum wage increase, employment ends up increasing.”

Swanson also said that, by 2010, retiring Baby Boomers will create a large number of job vacancies across the state.