Last week Grow Arizona Workforce Network and supporters celebrated the launch of the new Workforce Digital Skills Lab and shopfitting the Bijou (bee-zhou) Shop at The Bijou Center, located at 1002 W. Hopi Drive.
Heart of America, a national nonprofit that transforms learning spaces and helps close resource gaps for children, and clean energy companies SOLV Energy, Clenera and NextPower, partnered to invest in creating a first-of-its-kind workforce development hub for rural Arizona. The space will allow young people to develop digital career skills, earn industry-recognized certifications, and gain hands-on entrepreneurial experience that will prepare them for the opportunities of tomorrow.
Also in attendance were county and city administrators, elected officials, school administrators from both Holbrook and Joseph City unified school districts and Northland Pioneer College, community members and youth. The day featured a ribbon cutting with a speech from Grow Arizona Co-CEO and Holbrook mayor Kathleen Smith, Co-CEO and Joseph City resident Linda Kor, as well as representatives from Heart of America and the energy companies that funded development of the spaces. In addition, a panel of representatives from the energy companies answered questions from the young people in attendance regarding their careers and assisted by putting together furnishings and making the space special for the kids who will use it.
Grow Arizona Workforce Network is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping youth in Navajo and Apache counties successfully transition to postsecondary education, training and careers. Through personalized, in-person services, workforce development programs and meaningful opportunities, the organization connects young people with the resources, skills, and support they need to build successful futures.
Grow Arizona also owns and operates The Bijou Center in Holbrook, a community hub that includes The Bijou Teen Center, serving youth ages 13–18; Bijou Bowls Café, which provides hands-on workforce training and paid work experience; and the soon-to-open Bijou Shop, a retail space that will showcase and sells the creative work of local youth and artisans from across the region. To learn more about Grow Arizona and The Bijou Center, visit www.growarizona.org.
