Explanation
This ordinance authorizes the City Clerk to enter into a grant agreement with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce in support of the organization’s creation of the Engaging New and Emerging Citizens and Community Guidebook.
The Columbus Chamber of Commerce’s mission is to help the Columbus Region grow and thrive. With one of the most extensive networks in Central Ohio, the Columbus Chamber is uniquely equipped to create the Engaging New and Emerging Citizens and Community Guidebook that will support the immigrant, migrant, and refugee community in the city of Columbus. This guidebook will continue education groundwork laid in 2021. It will share better practices being utilized by Chamber members who have create new policies and procedures to be employers of choice for immigrant and refugee job seekers. The Columbus Chamber values the vibrancy and skill sets that our refugee and immigrant populations bring to the city of Columbus.
Columbus is currently the 14th largest metro area in the United States with over 992,000 residents. Over 155,000 of those residents are members of the immigrant and refugee communities. While European immigration to Columbus has declined, the metropolitan area has seen great increases in African, Latin American and Asian immigration, particularly from China, Mexico, India, and Somalia. The city’s Hispanic community is mostly Mexican with a sizable Puerto Rican population. Foreign-born individuals account for about 82% of new residents. 40% came from Asia, 23% from Africa, 22% from Latin America and 13% immigrated from Europe. The economic divide between these communities and native-born residents is tremendous, with immigrant households often earning 25% less than native-born households.
The Columbus Chamber values the vibrancy and skill sets that our refugee and immigrant populations bring to the city of Columbus. To address these socioeconomic issues from a workforce perspective, the Columbus Chamber is partnering with Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS) and Jewish Family Services to create the Engaging New and Emerging Citizens and Community Guidebook. Because there are multiple barriers that commonly keep employers from hiring immigrants and refugees, greater education is needed to bridge the gap of understanding.
The Chamber, CRIS, and Jewish Family Services are already offering regular education to members on a quarterly basis. They are also offering support directly to job-seekers in the immigrant and refugee community. The Engaging New and Emerging Citizens and Community Guidebook will serve as supportive marketing collateral to explain both solutions and offer guidance and technical assistance. This work will allow the Chamber Foundation to also assist small and mid-size businesses within the Chamber of Commerce membership that do not have an internal HR department and rely on the Chamber for workforce development assistance. The City of Columbus funds will provide much needed financial support for the Chamber Foundation to meet the goal of connecting our businesses/employers to one of our designated underutilized talent pipelines: Refugees and Immigrants in the Columbus region.
Emergency action is necessary to allow the Chamber to begin developing this supportive guidebook as soon as possible.
Fiscal Impact: Funding is available within the Job Growth subfund.
Title
To authorize the City Clerk to enter into a grant agreement with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce to support of the creation of the Engaging New and Emerging Citizens and Community Guidebook; to authorize an appropriation and expenditure within the Job Growth subfund; and to declare an emergency. ($20,000.00)
Body
WHEREAS, The Columbus Chamber of Commerce values the vibrancy and skill sets that our refugee and immigrant populations bring to the city of Columbus; and
WHEREAS, Columbus is home to over 155,000 immigrants, migrants, and refugees who face severe economic and employment barriers; and
WHEREAS, Better practices and new policies and procedures are needed for businesses to be good, caring employers for immigrant and refugee job seekers; and
WHEREAS, the Columbus Chamber is committed to the goal of connecting Columbus businesses and employers to a largely underutilized talent pipelines: refugees and immigrants in the Columbus region; and
WHEREAS, an emergency exists in the usual daily business of the City in that it is immediately necessary to authorize the City Clerk to enter into a grant agreement with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce in order to mitigate any delay in offering a critical employment resources for the immigrant and refugee communities; thereby preserving the public safety, health, and welfare;
NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COLUMBUS:
SECTION 1. That the City Clerk is hereby authorized to enter into a grant agreement with the Columbus Chamber of Commerce in support of the creation of their Engaging New and Emerging Citizens and Community Guidebook.
SECTION 2. That the City Auditor is hereby authorized and directed to appropriate $20,000.00 in the Job Growth subfund, fund 1000, subfund 100015, to the City Clerk per the accounting codes in the attachment to this ordinance.
SECTION 3. That the expenditure of $20,000.00 or so much thereof as may be needed pursuant to the action authorized in SECTION 1 of this ordinance, is hereby authorized in the Job Growth subfund, fund 1000, subfund 100015 per the accounting codes in the attachment to this ordinance.
SECTION 4. That the City Auditor is authorized to make any accounting changes to revise the funding source for all contracts or contract modifications associated with this ordinance.
SECTION 5. That for the reasons stated in the preamble hereto, which is hereby made a part hereof, this ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency measure and shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage and approval by the Mayor, or ten days after passage if the Mayor neither approves nor vetoes the same.