SER-Jobs for Progress, Inc.

SER-Jobs for Progress, Incorporated was a non-profit community based organization serving as the Western Comprehensive Employment and Training Center (WCETC), whose primary mission was to provide education, training, job placement, and other supportive services to residents of Western Maricopa County outside the city limits of Phoenix. SER, which provided all services under the auspices of the Job Training Partnership Act (JPTA) of 1982, was under contract to the Maricopa County Service delivery area (SDA).

The name SER indicates the organization's three primary factors: Service, Employment, and Redevelopment. It began in 1964 as a volunteer community job service but expanded during its nearly twenty years of activity into a national network. SER-Jobs for Progress, Incorporated, was sponsored by the League of United Latin-American Citizens (LULAC) and the American G.I. Forum. Its foundation lay in a desire to enhance employability across the board for all economically disadvantaged people. It accomplished this goal by setting up satellite groups centered in five major economically disadvantaged geographic areas. These groups structured community bases and programs, from which the economically disadvantaged could receive job counseling, training, and education. The result of their work was the reduction of unemployment and increased job career potential previously lost to insufficient formal education and lack of technical skills.

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