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Deb Chouinard-Manager (406) 447-3202 E-Mail Deb
Deb has been with the Department of Labor and Industry since October of 1988. She came to the Department from Glendive, Montana (Go Red Devils!) She’s the proud mom of two young men. Her career with the Department has taken her from Unemployment Insurance to Legal Services, Job Service’s Central office, to the Helena Job Service. She is especially proud of the positive impact the team of professionals in the office has had on the communities we serve. With approximately 150 years of combined experience from a variety of backgrounds, the dedicated, caring individuals at the Helena Job Service certainly aim to make a positive difference for individuals, employers, and our community as a whole.
"We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.” Sir Winston Churchill
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Carol Rule-Assistant Manager (406) 447-3215 E-Mail Carol
Carol accepted a position here as a temporary receptionist thinking that it would be a great place to work while looking for work. That was almost 14 years ago. She has since worked as an Employment Assistant, Workforce Consultant, and Case Manager in the federal training programs unit prior to her present position. Her background includes bookkeeping, small business ownership, sales and retail management. Carol has knowledge of the entire operation of the Helena Job Service Workforce Center and still enjoys working with and helping both the business and job seeker customers, when not working on budgets. She is happiest greeting customers at the front desk. She states that her initial thoughts were confirmed, it is a great place to work!
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Bryan Bird-Employment Services Specialist (406) 447-3232 E-Mail Bryan
Bryan has been with us since 2000. He is a Navy veteran and came to us with years of customer service expertise from the lodging industry. He worked as an Employment Assistant at our front desk for 4 years, learning Job Service from the ground up before becoming one of our Employment Services Specialist. Bryan works with both employers and career seekers to match them up. His other duties for us include computer technician, lead test administrator and local webmaster. He also works on many committees committed to improving our public services. "We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." - Albert Einstein
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Rob Bird-Workforce Consultant (406) 447-3210 E-Mail Rob
Rob joined our office on January 10, 2011 as a Workforce Consultant. His focus will be working with unemployment insurance claimants in their reemployment efforts. An Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America, he has graduated with an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice and worked for the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Department, Helena Police Department, Montana Department of Corrections, and the Montana Court Administrators Office before changing careers to Customer Service and working for the Student Assistance Foundation.
One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others-Robert A. Heinlein
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Dave Coombs-Employment Services Specialist (406) 447-3214 E-Mail Dave C.
Dave joined the Helena Job Service as Employment Specialist in 2007. He worked in retail management (Ja’Vees Corporation) in the 80’s, before moving to Helena to pursue a media sales career. For 20 years, he worked as an advertising rep (Helena I.R.), in sales management (Queen City News and Chinook Wireless) and as Publisher of the Whitefish Pilot. He uses his private sector business experience, to help local employers meet their needs and relies on his hiring experience to council job seekers about what employers look for in resumes, applications and interviews. After years in the corporate ‘pressure cooker’, working for Job Service and helping people is most rewarding work he’s ever done.
“If we all did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves.” -Thomas Edison
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Sandy Hamlin-Business Services (406) 447-3236 E-Mail Sandy
Sandy has worked at the Helena Job Service Workforce Center for over 17 years, and has been employed in several different capacities within our office. Currently, she is working with our business customers, assisting employers with their human resource management needs. Sandy also serves as our Job Service Employer’s Committee Coordinator, as well as serving on the Job Placement Advisory Council. Before coming to the Job Service, Sandy was self-employed in a family business, and still assists with those enterprises as time allows.
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Melinda Hoskins-Workforce Consultant (406) 447-3231 E-Mail Melinda
Melinda recently joined the Job Service as a Workforce Consultant. She has had many years of experience in magazine, newspaper and freelance publishing as a reporter, writer, editor, marketing consultant and publications designer and also spent two interesting years doing case management for Experience Works. Melinda relies on her marketing and editing experience to help job seekers communicate their job skills clearly in resumes, applications and cover letters.
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Dave Laber-Business Services (406) 447-3209 E-Mail Dave L.
Dave Laber is a business advocate for the Montana Department of Labor. He helps small business owners who operate in Montana. The majority of Montana businesses have fewer than twenty employees and can't afford their own human resource staff. Dave and his colleagues are there to help small businesses maintain good employee relations and a high-quality workforce. ”Many employers don't understand their rights and liabilities,” says Dave. “We don't provide legal advice, but we do help employers navigate the legal minefield.” Employers call Dave when they have employment-related issues. Dave assists them by providing effective solutions. “If employers communicate their expectations clearly, and treat their employees fairly, they're less likely to run into problems,” says Dave. ”That's good for business owners, for employees, and for growing Montana's economy.”
"We don't stop playing because we get old. We get old because we stop playing."— Satchell Paige
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Mark Larson-Employment Services Specialist (406) 447-3207 E-Mail Mark
Mark has been at the Helena Job Service over two years and serves as a Workforce Consultant. He has 25 years of teaching and coaching experience in the Helena area and holds Bachelors Degrees in Forestry (Resource Management) and Education from the University of Montana and a Masters Degree in Educataional Technology from Lesley University in Cambridge, MA. Mark has experience as a business owner (Fuzzy Moose Montana), in retail sales with Chinook Wireless and Lithia Motors, and as a Financial Consultant with Thrivent Finanacial in Lewiston Idaho. The Helena Job Service has allowed him to take his education and past experiences to help job seekers and employers in the Helena area meet their needs.
"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift." - Steve Prefontaine
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Phil Osborne-Employment Services Specialist (406) 447-3235 E-Mail Phil
After graduating from Arizona State University with a degree in Marketing and Mass Communications Phil spent a number of years in management with Sears, Roebuck and Company, in General Management, Operations, Merchandising, Human Resources, Staff Development and Strategic Planning. Following his retirement from Sears he spent time in the Seattle/Tacoma, WA and Chicago, IL areas as a volunteer assisting marginalized people by providing for needs ranging from food, to civil law resources, to fellowship. This was followed by two years as Human Resource Director for a retail chain in southern California. More recently he has been an adjunct instructor at UM-Helena and Carroll College in subjects including Management, Ethics, Human Resource Management/Legal Issues, Market Research and Human Relations-Career Development. “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” Peter F. Drucker
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Terri Schubring-Trade Adjustment Assistance Programs (406) 447-3226 E-Mail Terri
Terri is relatively new to the Helena Job Service, joining the team in August, 2010 in her first venture into State of Montana employment. Terri’s role at Job Service is assisting workers who lose their jobs to foreign competition. Terri enjoys working with participants and got her start in case management in 1994 while employed at Career Training Institute. Since then, Terri has provided case management and taught various courses at a treatment center and has been employed as an adult education instructor and computer system tester. In addition to working at Job Service, Terri currently teaches GED classes at the Helena Pre-Release Center one evening per week.
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Deb Smith-Workforce Investment Act Programs (406) 447-3219 E-Mail Deb S
Deb started her Career with the Helena Job Service on May 10, 1979 as a Receptionist, a couple of years later I was promoted to an Employment Assistant and then to Employment Specialist, Employment Consultant, and I believe my title today is Workforce Consultant. My main duties were to assist Job Seekers and Employers with their needs. I have worked in Unemployment when we had that Division located here in our office and processed Unemployment claims. I was out-stationed three times. First with the Youth Employment Service or YES Program and then the JOBS Program at Career Training Institute in 1990-1991 then again from April 1998 to June 2006 at the Office of Public Assistance. I moved back to the Helena Job Service Workforce Center into the Programs Unit and working the Montana Tunnels National Emergency Grant and WIA Adult and Dislocated Worker. This type of work was all new to me! However this is where I am today and I enjoy working in the Programs Unit and all my co-workers.
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Brad Wiles-Workforce Investment Act Programs (406) 447-3228 E-Mail Brad
Brad is a Helena native and has been with the Helena Job Service since 2007. Originally being veterans’ representative he has fully transitioned into a case manager for our Workforce Investment Act Programs that help provide training and job search services to people who qualify. After graduating from Capital High School in 1999, Brad did four years in the US Army. After his military service he obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Social Work and a minor in Native American Studies. Brad enjoys going to work every day in an effort to do his part in keeping Montana’s economy moving.
"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." - Vince Lombardi
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