Marano Fellows Class of 2011

Name: Gregory J. Favret
Organization:

Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans/ Community Staffing Services

Location: New Orleans, LA
Primary Industry Sector: Hospitality Industry
Type of Organization: Alternative Staffing Organization

“I am excited about the metamorphosis that takes place when entry level workers find personal dignity through securing that direct hire job with benefits and opportunity for advancement.”

Organizational Mission: Community Staffing Services is a transitional job strategy based on a staffing agency model. It is one of 45 programs of Catholic Charities Archdiocese of New Orleans. Catholic Charities has been in operation for 250 years. Community Staffing Services has been in operation for 2 years.

Interest in Sector Work: Community Staffing Services has identified the hospitality industry in New Orleans as sector on which to focus our transitional job strategy efforts. Tourism is the largest industry in New Orleans and the hospitality industry is one of the largest employers of low income workers. The hospitality industry therefore was a logical choice to select as a sector to study and develop a strategy around.

After Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans hotels lost most of their housekeeping, laundry and kitchen staff. They began to use staffing companies to fill those positions. Today over one thousand jobs in our hotels are filled by staffing companies. Our hope is to facilitate the transition of these jobs to direct employment positions which offer the workers benefits, opportunities for advancement and job security. The benefit to the employer is increased retention, employee loyalty and morale.