Member Spotlight: Integration Works

The WVCBA recently welcomed Integration Works Inc. as a new member! Integration Works is a licensed adult day program for individuals served by Tri-Counties Regional Center (TCRC), providing employment preparation and community integration training services with a focus on soft skills training, job matching, and paid internship development. Job Developer Ryan Gonzales shares more about their life-changing programs.

​How and when did you get started? 
Integration Works, Inc. formed in October 2018 responding to a Request for Proposals from TCRC for an agency to offer the services we now provide. We completed our licensing and vendorization process in March of 2020 - just days before the Governor shut the state down due to the pandemic. Today, we support 31 job candidates on our current roster, have placed 20 people in paid jobs, and have grown to a team of 27 employees on our own payroll. 

What is your mission or motto?
Motto: Advancing Careers | Cultivating Talent

Mission: Help people overcome their learning, emotional, and physical differences by teaching them the skills they need to obtain competitive, integrated, and meaningful employment.

What’s one thing the business is known for?
Our results. Families and Service Coordinators appreciate that we help our job candidates actually get jobs that match their interests, preferences, and support needs, and that we support them in keeping and advancing in those jobs effectively. 

We get these results because of the team of Coaches we've assembled, the training and supervision our Program Director provides, and the community relationships our Job Developer builds.

Why did the business choose this area for its location?​
The Request for Proposal specifically stated a need for services in Ventura County, and the Palms Marketplace provides a great location very close to some of our community partners such as Tri-Counties Regional Center, All Shook Up, and Oxnard Family Circle; and is also located centrally between West and East County. And because our office is in Oxnard, we have the opportunity to provide employment services to people from diverse cultural backgrounds and from low-income households.

Are there any new projects you can tell us about? 
We expect for our Social Recreation & Youth Program for TCRC individuals aged 3-17 to be opening soon, hopefully later this year. Also, we hope to be moving into a larger office space in the Palms Marketplace by the second quarter of 2023.

How can the business community help?
If you are a business owner, hiring manager, or HR professional, you can help by hosting me and a small group of job candidates for a brief job tour, Q&A session, or job shadow opportunity. You can also share information on opportunities to volunteer, intern, or be employed with your organization. 

Lastly, you can schedule a brief (~5-10 min) phone or video call with me where we discuss whether your organization is a good match to utilize my company's Paid Internship Program (PIP). Through a PIP, your business offers an at-will internship position to one of our job candidates, and my company covers 100% of all required payroll costs, including at least minimum wage, workers compensation, unemployment, and sick leave.

If you work for an organization that values inclusion and accessibility and that could benefit from collaboration, please call or text me at 805-978-8331, or email me at [email protected]. 

What else do you want the community to know?
Please visit our Instagram @skilldevelopmentcenter to check out what our program experience is like from day to day.

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Contact:
Ryan Gonzales, Job Developer
Call/text: 805-978-8331
Email: [email protected]​​