July 18 • 2019 25
jn

B

eing unemployed can be demoralizing, a fact that JVS 
Human Services is keeping top of mind while planning 
its new office for the Oakland County Michigan Works! 
Agency, which will open later this summer or early fall.
JVS topped six competing bidders for a workforce 
development system in Northern Oakland County to replace 
the office run for nearly 40 years by the Waterford School 
District. The center, which will be located in a yet-to-be-de-
termined Waterford location, will be one of Michigan Works!’
 
seven offices in the county.
“JVS has a very human-centered 
approach, and they understand the bar-
riers that folks face in life,”
 said Jennifer 
Llewellyn, Oakland County’
s manager of 
workforce development and director of its 
Michigan Works! Agency. “Their wraparound 
approach is innovative and that stood out in 
their proposal.”
Paul Blatt, JVS executive vice president and COO, said 
the plan is to go beyond the standard approach and engage 
people differently. “We know that the toughest part about 
the job search is the rejection and loneliness,”
 he said. “It’
s 
important to help people stay engaged in their job search, to 
give them dignity and hope.”
So rather than meet across a desk in a sterile bureaucrat-
ic setting, clients at the JVS Michigan Works! may sip coffee 
in a café-type setting. 
Blatt is also exploring the use of technology to connect 

with clients. “Ninety percent of adults have smartphones and 
the ability to telecommute or use video 
conferencing,”
 he said. “Not everything 
has to be face-to-face or in person.” 
Michigan Works! is funded entirely 
through state and federal grants, so JVS’
 
experience with compliance and reporting 
is another plus, Llewellyn said. 
Each Michigan Works! office offers 
services customized to the area.
“People say, ‘
Gosh, you guys are all different,’
 and that is 
the beauty of the system,”
 Llewellyn said “The Troy office 
sometimes gets an older clientele, so they offer workshops 
for those who are 55-plus. In Pontiac, some have limited 
English or need a GED, so we boost adult literacy. We em-
brace being different.”
And, she said, they help anyone seeking a job, not just 
those who have been laid off. “We work with everyone from 
youths to high-end executives.” 
Blatt has sat on the board of Oakland County Michigan 
Works! for five years, but this is the first time JVS has won a 
bid with the agency. 
“We always got great scores but never landed the fund-
ing,”
 Blatt said. “We’
re happy to have finally been success-
ful, to be part of a larger system that makes a bigger impact 
on the larger community.”
 ■

Learn more about Michigan Works! at oakgov.com/
advantageoakland/workforce and JVS at jvshumanservices.org.

to work with architect firms and interior design 
firms, we’
ve gotten to do fun commercial projects 
and other projects that are a bit more unorthodox, 
a bit challenging.
” 

WELL-DESERVED SUCCESS
“Shelby was raised with women role models in her 
everyday life,
” Lee Holtzman, Shelby’
s mother, said. 
“I’
m proud and yet not surprised that she has done 
well in a male-dominated field. When she shifted 
her basement hobby to her life’
s work and passion, 
she already had a level of expectation that she 
would be successful. The rest has been determina-
tion, hard work and, of course, creative talent.
” 
As in any field, success is nothing without pas-
sion for the work you do. While Holtzman and 
Erickson have achieved something rewarding in 
starting Long White Beard, they’
ve also realized a 
passion for an industry that they didn’
t recognize 
when they were working at a coffee shop and a 
cable company, respectively. 
“Running a small business is hard, but it’
s also 
incredibly rewarding,
” Holtzman said. “We’
re very 
invested in our community, and it’
s wonderful to 
work locally. We love what we do; we’
re very proud 
of what we do; we’
re proud of how far we’
ve come 
in the last five years.
” ■

Paul Blatt

Jennifer 
Llewellyn

Putting People to Work 

JOYCE WISWELL CONTRIBUTING WRITER

B I R M I N G H A M

Member FDIC
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