A budding partnership between City economic developers and a locally founded career-networking service aims to help businesses, students and job seekers connect for new employment “pathways.”
CareerPathway.com was founded in 2022 by CEO Bo Jones, who also owns a Lincoln construction business. The service was designed to help students and job seekers find career recourses, help colleges fill classrooms, and help businesses find talent. It functions similar to social media platforms such as LinkedIn — giving businesses a platform to post their own content that shows what their companies do and how job seekers can connect with them.
The platform was built in collaboration with Don’t Panic Labs, a Lincoln-based software product company.
The Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development (LPED) will be partnering with CareerPathway.com to expand the platform to include industry-level and business specific career pathways and additional career readiness resources.
“Through cultivating a talent pipeline and working closely with our local partners, resources such as CareerPathway.com are crucial to developing a workforce that meets the needs of our community and aligns with the goals of our Vitality Lincoln Strategic Plan,” says Luke Peltz, Vice President for the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development. “The development of CareerPathway.com is one of many ways in which we can position Lincoln as a place that truly celebrates and champions innovation and economic diversity by involving public and private partners.”
The City of Lincoln allocated funding for the partnership between LPED and CareerPathway.com through the City’s American Rescue Plan Act Workforce Development training grant. Since ARPA funds were made available in 2021, the City has allocated $13.5 million for workforce development.
Some entities already involved with CareerPathway.com include Lincoln Public Schools, Southeast Community College, American Job Center of Lancaster and Saunders Counties and numerous local businesses.
In the coming months, CareerPathway.com will add local employers as the platform grows to include specific career pathways, detailed high-wage, high-skill and high-demand occupations and increased career readiness resources.
LPED is encouraging businesses to create an account and get started, being in a position to capitalize on the expansion of CareerPathway.com’s platform.