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Job training program expands to East Valley

BY JOSH ORTEGA Tribune Staff Writer

Help has arrived for Mesa students lost in the real-world job market. Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates has collaborated with Grad Solutions to open up a hub for East Valley students at 2055 South Power Road in Mesa.

This new community-based program will offer career and life services to help young people succeed. The program recently held its annual Graduates Career Development Conference at the Mesa Convention Center with Arizona Coyotes President & CEO Xavier Gutierrez as the guest speaker.

“It’s a very powerful program,” he said. “What we’re seeing is the future of this state, the future of this community.”

Mesa Mayor John Giles said he’s committed to the program that’s finally coming to the region and lauded the opening of the group’s East Hub.

“We’re very committed to this cause and very proud of the achievements of this crowd,” he said.

The day’s festivities started as more than 600 students competed in 24 contests in a variety of areas including public speaking, resume building and tire changing.

Students enjoyed a hearty luncheon and awards ceremony that culminated their year-long, 21-month cycle in the program by saw the distribution of 50 scholarships totaling more than $52,000. More than 1,000 people filled the Mesa Convention Center to celebrate the student’s completion of the program, but JAG will continue to follow-up with them for a year after to ensure they have become gainfully employed.

Graciela Garcia Candia joined the program in 1982 as part of Northern Arizona University and launched it as its own nonprofit in 1990.

She said the program helps identify an individual’s career passions, strengths and skills from they meet them and help them with employment, post-secondary, trades or the military.

“Not everybody is slated to go on into

Fred Lockhart hands a laptop to Gabriel Alejandrez during Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates Career Development Conference scholarship and awards luncheon. (David Minton/Tribune

Staff Photographer)

see JAG page 21

Most EV eateries passing on Restaurant Week

BY SUMMER AGUIRRE

Tribune Contributor

East Valley restaurants are participating in what’s become a biannual event for foodies – Arizona Restaurant Week.

From Friday, May 20, to May 29, the Arizona Restaurant Association’s semiannual event features a slew of restaurants offering three-course prix-fixe menus.

These dining establishments showcase Arizona’s culinary scope, while allowing diners to support their local businesses and explore new cuisine at discounted prices.

“As our industry continues to navigate labor shortages, cost increases and limited supplies, we still aim to present our state’s dining community with the most delicious way to explore our culinary scene,” said Steve Chucri, Arizona Restaurant Association CEO.

Overall, East Valley restaurants haven’t stepped up for the program. Only two in Mesa are participating – less than the four each in Chandler and Tempe and six in Gilbert but more than the one in Queen Creek. Scottsdale has more than two dozen. A full list with details is at arizonarestaurantweek.com.

During the 10 days, three-course menus are presented at participating restaurants for $33, $44 or $55 per person – or per couple in some instances.

For an additional cost, eateries offer wine pairings. Takeout is also available.

In Mesa, Dolce Vita Gelato and Grocery at 5251 E. Brown Road is offering a $33 per person dinner that includes one appetizer choice from Sicilian Arancini or Sicilian Meatball or a Sicilian pizza; one of three different pastabased entrees and one of three desserts. The cost does not include tax or gratuity.

Los Sombreros at 1976 E. Southern Ave., Mesa, has a person option of $33, $44 or $55 that is based on which of three entrees a patron chooses: shrimp sauted in tequila ($33), a traditional mole over pork ($44) or steak and scallops ($55). There also is a choice on one of two appetizers and two desserts.

Chucri said, “With dine-in and takeout options and a variety of dining choices, including high-end and independently owned best-kept secrets, we encourage diners to use Arizona Restaurant Week as an opportunity to support the industry while enjoying an incredible meal.”

Arizona Restaurant Week’s goal is to Dolce Vita Gelato and Grocery at 5251 E. Brown Road, Mesa, is offering a $33 per person dinner during Arizona Restaurant Week. (Instagram)

THE MESA TRIBUNE | MAY 15, 2022

Moving company helps sheltered moms

TRIBUNE NEWS STAFF

Two Men And A Truck of Mesa collected more than 1,500 items for mothers in domestic abuse and homeless shelters, doubling the goal for the company’s “Movers for Moms” campaign.

The items, which included a variety of hygiene and related products, were given to A New Leaf for distribution to women in need a couple days before Mother’s Day.

“Mother’s Day is supposed to be a special day, but for a mother that is in a shelter and in crisis, it can be really hard,” said Laura Bode, director of community engagement at A New Leaf. “What Two Men And A Truck is doing to bring comfort and joy to these moms who are in tough situations goes a long way. It makes them aware that the community is supporting them and they aren’t alone.”

Studies indicate that one in every three women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime, and an estimated 1.3 million women are victims of physical assault by an intimate partner each year. According to one national study, 25 percent of homeless women are homeless because of violence in the home.

Movers for Moms is a national program run by Two Men And A Truck, the nation’s largest moving franchise.

In its 15-year program history, more than a million items have been donated to shelters supporting women.

Among the drop-off sites and area partners included for the moving company’s campaign were Holistic Fit and Crunch Fitness in Gilbert and the following Mesa businesses: Revive Nutrition, Hola Nutrition, Victory Martial Arts, Fit Body Boot Camp, Exceptional Pets, Desert Winds Harley and Mosaic. ■

JAG from page 20

post-secondary education,” she said. “We hope to provide them all their options and then provide them the opportunity to visit those employers.”

Candia said the organization had programs at Westwood and Mesa high schools but those ended in 1984.

“Now, with this new hub opening up and the collaboration, we hope to continue to and serve more and more of the students through our in-school programming,” Candia said.

She said they continue to work with the City of Mesa and will contact the superintendent of Mesa Public School to restart a program for its students.

The organization has 22 programs statewide including 16 at the high school level, four at the middle school level and two community-based programs.

Candia’s family immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico when she was 3 and has served as the president of the organization since 2003.

In the meantime, she said the East Hub location at Power and Baseline Road will work to refocus academics by offering career and life services – including free wi-fi, laptops, food pantry and clothing closet to get students business attire.

She said the pandemic disconnected young people from their academics and that she hopes Jobs for Arizona’s Graduates can help them refocus by partnering During a recent career conference and awards luncheon at the Mesa Convention Center, Jobs for Arizona announced its plans to open a hub for East Valley students.(David Min-

ton/Tribune Staff Photographer)

with local companies in the area.

“Part of the JAG programming is that we help them identify that career path and then find them companies and organizations that will allow them to start working,” she said. Candia knows firsthand the importance of guiding young people through all their options.

Her son told her he wanted to work with his hands and now works as an auto technician “making very good money.”

“But he was not interested in going to that traditional four-year university like his father and me,” she said.

She said her own life experience helped her find her “purpose” to help students navigate all the options available to them.

She said she felt “unprepared” but thanks to the sponsor of her high school’s 4H club and her brother attending the University of Arizona, she found college.

But even after graduating college, she said still felt lost and landed on a life in career services, and she said she vowed to help other students avoid the struggle she endured.

“It’s really important for me that every student who leaves high school understands their options and that they know how to advocate for themselves,” said Candia, who is retiring this year.

Arizona Corporate Commissioner Anna Tovar stands as an alumnus of the program.

Born and raised in Tolleson, she attended Tolleson High School and attended the program her junior and senior not realizing how important it would become to her.

“I didn’t know I needed it but I needed it at the time,” she said. She received her first paid internship at Salt River Project.

After attending community college, she would go on to attend Arizona State University where she graduated in 1995 with a bachelor’s in elementary education.

Since then, she’s worked as a teacher before working her up the political ladder to a state-level elected office she began serving in January 2021.

Now, she serves on the board of Jobs for America’s Graduates – the national-level program – along with Gov. Doug Ducey.

She said the “JAG family” became the first adult outside of her family that helped her realize her true potential.

“I could succeed at anything regardless of the barriers put in front of me, she said. ■

WEEK from page 20

establish the state as one of the nation’s top culinary destinations. During the 10 days, it encourages spending at and promotes the 8,500 eateries.

The Stockyards Steakhouse, a 75-yearold Old Western-style restaurant in Phoenix, has participated in Arizona Restaurant Week since the event began approximately 15 years ago.

Owner Gary Lasko said the program has helped Stockyards Steakhouse’s bottom line and yielded a positive response from the public before and after the pandemic.

“It boosts business for us,” Lasko said. “It exposes a bunch of people to the restaurant, and maybe you get those people back over the summer if they really like it and think it’s a cool place.”

Menus often have off-the-menu entrees, which encourage chefs to cook creatively and take advantage of seasonal items.

“We always focus on our signatures, like a filet and prime rib as entrees, instead of trying to put some lesser things out there,” Lasko added.

“We want to showcase our best items. So, I think that’s the opportunity for people, to go to some restaurants they wouldn’t necessarily go to and check them out at a better price and a slower time of year.”■