Getting People Back On Their Feet

I had the chance earlier this month to start my national tour of our

communities. I started in Denver, Colorado then drove down to

Albuquerque, New Mexico and then on to El Paso, Texas. What I

witnessed and experienced was a surprise to me.

Since just six months ago, I saw more "Grand Opening" signs, fewer

"Going Out of Business" signs, more "Sold" signs on homes and a lot of

"Help Wanted" signs.

The "Help Wanted" signs on restaurants and retailers are the biggest

problem that I see. All of these advertised jobs are for entry level positions

paying about $8 per hour. That works out to $20,000 per year which

is not even enough to qualify for one of our middle-income affordable

apartments. It's great to see the U.S. economy improving and people

spending money once again, but the consumer driven U.S. economy does

not support the working population.

The U.S. has to find new opportunities for our citizens to get jobs that pay

well above minimum wage

At Signature Community we recently started a partnership with The

Kaufman Entrepreneurial Foundation to help our residents retool

themselves and give them assistance in starting their own businesses.

My personal feeling is that the only way some people will be able to make

the jump from poverty level pay to sustainable family wages is to take

matters into their own hands and create their own businesses. Self-

employment is a stepping stone out of poverty and probably the best

chance the U.S. has to reinvigorate the economy.

At Signature Community over the next few months we will be rolling out

programs that will help our residents get a leg up on the competition and

allow them to create their own opportunities to grow both professionally

and economically.

Thanks for helping make Signature Community the greatest place to live.

--
Nickolas Jekogian
CEO
Signature Community
917-763-3500
www.ASignatureCommunity.com
Blog -http://www.nwjceommm.blogspot.com/

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