Underfunded service group appeals for rent-free office

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DIXON -- A nonprofit agency that helps low-income residents around Dixon find jobs might be getting a year's free rent, worth $7,200. Business Employment Skills Team Inc. serves four counties from four offices, one of which is in the Old Lee County Courthouse. The federally funded program has been getting less funding over the last six years, so the Lee County Properties Committee will recommend Tuesday that the county board give the group a 12-month rent waiver. B.E.S.T. pays $600 a month for the Dixon office, which serves 200 to 250 people a year, Executive Director Pam Furlan said. The group also is working with other landlords to renegotiate their leases, Furlan said. In the meantime, it is cutting its staff from 16 to 14. "Laying off staff was the absolute last resort," Furlan said "We tried to do everything we could before we had to do that, but this year was just a very bad year for us." The program is funded under the 1998 Workforce Investment Act. Allocations have dropped from a high of roughly $2 million in 2002 to a low of slightly more than $1 million this year. B.E.S.T. pairs candidates with employers, provides individual job training and training sessions for local businesses. About 60 percent of participants in its job-training program find employment, Furlan said. "Our goal is to make our businesses more competitive in a global economy. Whether we do it with youth or adult services or we do it with a business, those businesses are going to benefit," she said. B.E.S.T. also offers financial aid for college expenses and compensation for travel costs or work-related daycare. Waiving the Lee County program's rent for a year could be a worthwhile sacrifice, committee member John Ferrone said. "I hate giving money away here, but if they're putting that many people back on the street, working... indirectly, that's helping us, because they live in the area or work in the area, we'll get some tax dollars back, hopefully." If approved, the waiver would begin July 1. Reach Chase Castle at 815-284-2222 or 800-798-4085, ext. 521.