Springfield College Collaborates with New England Business Associates to Introduce Project SEARCH Cohort

Springfield College has collaborated with New England Business Associates to introduce the first cohort of interns participating in the community’s Project SEARCH program. The cohort was introduced on the campus on Tuesday, August 7, in Locklin Hall. Springfield College is the first college or university in Western Mass. to lead the Project SEARCH program.

Project SEARCH’s mission is to support young adults with disabilities to transition from school to work through a community agency partnership while gaining employability skills. The program is dedicated to workforce development that benefits the individual, community and workplace.

The Project SEARCH model involves an extensive period of training and career exploration, innovation adaptations, long-term job coaching, and continues feedback from teachers, job coaches, and employers. Project SEARCH has more than 400 program sites in over 40 states in the United States, as well as programs in Australia, Canada, England, Scotland, and Ireland.

New England Business Associates’ mission is to enable individuals, who may face barriers, to be fully included in community life through employment, and to become economically empowered in a way that incorporates and creates best practices, creates valued typical societal roles, and offers individualized opportunities.