EMERYVILLE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jamba Juice Company (NASDAQ: JMBA), a leading healthy, active lifestyle company, and the San Francisco Treasure Island Job Corps Center announced today that they have formed an innovative public-private partnership to help advance the careers of Job Corps Culinary Arts students. The initiative will also employ young people from Job Corps as part of the Obama Administration’s Summer Jobs+ initiative. The partnership, Jamba Jobs+, is the vision of Jamba Juice® Chairman and CEO James D. White, with the endorsement of Treasure Island Job Corps Center Director, David Miller and Jane Oates, Assistant Secretary Employment and Training Administration, U.S. Department of Labor.
“Our partnership with Treasure Island Job Corps Culinary Arts program is unprecedented in the restaurant industry,” stated James D. White, Chairman, President and CEO, Jamba Juice Company. “Jamba Jobs+ will set Job Corps students on a path to gain valuable skills and work experience, making them competitive and well-prepared in their chosen careers. In the end, we hope those careers will be with Jamba. Our ultimate goal is to actively work with other Job Corps Culinary Arts Centers across the country to provide a similar pipeline for employment.”
“Staff at Treasure Island Job Corps are excited about this partnership with Jamba Juice which will provide management training internships, work based learning sites, and job opportunities for our students,” commented David Miller, Center Director, Treasure Island Job Corps.
Jamba Jobs+ was developed to provide students and recent graduates of Treasure Island Job Corps Culinary Arts program with career mentoring, internships and summer and permanent job opportunities. In addition, the program will focus on deepening the education and nutritional expertise of students through the launch of a collaboratively developed “Master of Blending Arts” (MBA) program. The MBA program is designed to set Job Corps students and Jamba team members on a fast track to leadership positions in Jamba stores.
"Developing strong partnerships between employers and federal training providers like Job Corps is an important component of an America built to last,” said U.S. Department of Labor Assistant Secretary for Employment and Training, Jane Oates. "Last year we were very excited to facilitate the pilot program linking Treasure Island Job Corps culinary students with internships at Jamba Juice, and we are even more excited to see it grow this year.”
The Job Corps/Jamba partnership is rooted in the Summer Jobs+ initiative developed by the Obama Labor Department. Jamba Juice recently received special recognition from the White House for demonstrating the highest level of corporate leadership by actively participating in the Obama Administration’s Summer Jobs USA 2011 initiative. Last year Jamba committed to hire 2,500 youth as a part of that initiative and has recommitted to hiring even more in 2012.
About Jamba Juice Company
Founded in 1990, Jamba Juice Company (NASDAQ: JMBA) is a leading restaurant retailer of better-for-you, specialty beverage and food offerings, which include great tasting, whole fruit smoothies, fresh squeezed juices and juice blends, hot coffee and teas, slow cooked hot oatmeal made with organic steel cut oats, Fit’n Fruitful™ smoothies with Weight Burner Boost™, Fruit and Veggie smoothies, Whirl’ns™ Frozen Yogurt, breakfast wraps, sandwiches and wraps, California Flatbreads™ and a variety of baked goods and snacks. Jamba-branded products for at-home enjoyment are also available through select retailers across the nation and in Jamba outlets.
Jamba Juice Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Jamba, Inc., a holding company that owns and franchises Jamba Juice stores on a global basis. As of January 3, 2012, Jamba Juice had 750 locations in the United States consisting of 307 Company-owned and operated stores and 443 franchise-operated stores. In addition, at January 3, 2012 there were 19 international stores. Fans of Jamba Juice can find out more about Jamba Juice's locations as well as specific offerings and promotions by visiting the Jamba Juice website at www.JambaJuice.com, becoming a Jamba Insider at www.JambaJuice.com/Insider, Liking our Page on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/JambaJuice, following us on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/JambaJuice or by contacting Jamba’s Guest Services team at 1-866-4R-FRUIT (473-7848).
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