Community Economic Development Program
Job Squad's Community Economic Development (CEDP) assists job seekers and businesses to use universal economic development principles, including Customized Employment strategies and techniques, to create economic value.
Economic Development strategies and techniques include maximizing each individual's contributions, leveraging community connections and social capital, and assisting individuals to access needed resources.
Customized employment means individualizing the relationship between job seekers and employers in ways that meet the needs of both. It is based on an individualized determination of the strengths, requirements and interests of a person and matching those to the needs of the employer (Office of Disability Employment Policy, 2003).
Best outcomes occur when a job is created - that is, it did not exist before it was filled. Traditional job searches typically involve scanning the employment landscape and current job openings. This is called the "Labor Market Approach" and tends to result in less desirable employment relationships between the job seeker and employer.