Transforming Lives Through Career Readiness

In 2022, Governor Baker announced a new grant program aimed at enhancing hiring at organizations in Massachusetts. The new program, called HireNow, and uses funds provided by the American Rescue Plan Act to provide grants to organizations that hire new employees between March 22, 2022, and December 31, 2022. HireNow provides resources to enable Massachusetts employers to broaden their recruiting practices to include workers who do not meet traditional qualifications but can fulfill job requirements with additional training upon hire. Employers are encouraged to rethink hiring practices, minimum qualifications, and onboarding processes to consider candidates with qualification that may differ from traditional standards to increase staffing levels in a tight labor market. Employers have flexibility to request funding from the program to:
  • Incentivize workers to accept job offers and stay on the job through hiring bonus, retention bonuses or incentives to participate in training once hired.
  • Reimburse training costs for new hires so they can align to job requirements
  • Pay employee supervision costs to onboard new workers
  In honor of a stand-up job in setting up the processes for this project, the HireNow Program team has today been named recipients of the first annual Transformational Leadership Award at the Commonwealth Corporation. This prestigious award celebrates the creation of transformative initiatives at in the Massachusetts workforce development field. See list of awardees below:
  • Theresa Rowland
  • Rob Duncan
  • Binah Saint-Loth
  • Alyssa Yee
  • Emma Cook
  • Ester Ovalle
  • Yaazmeen Daley
  • Courtney Flem
  • Irmine Uwineza
  • Lucila Santana
  • Liz Cloherty
  • Caroline Panchelli
  • Jeff Smith
  • Tracy Ferguson
  • Ana Troyanos
  • Elle Morgan
  • Charles Ocitti
  • Elle Morgan
  • Kim Bryson
  • Thomas Howard
  • Nancy Conviser
  • Fernando Martinez
  • Abby Farley
  • Andre Channer
  • Laura Camila Rivera
  • Kevin Emile
  • Yashu Kauffman