Restaurant’s DC Arrival Nears
UPO helping to staff city’s ?rst IHOP
New Southeast Washington, DC IHOP now under construction at the Shops at Park Village in Congress Heights, where UPO helped train and place staff.
“It almost feels like the old days when we would go out to places and have a good meal” said one longtime Congress Heights resident, referring to the many restaurants that once dotted the area. Today however, the neighborhood is more often home to liquor stores, quick cash, and payday loan shops. Much of that changed with the development of The Shops at Park Village, a new shopping complex located in the rapidly evolving community along Alabama Avenue in southeast Washington, DC. The complex, created in part by the Anacostia Economic Development Corporation, is anchored by a large Giant Supermarket and hosts many other businesses. Soon however, a minority owned and operated IHOP Restaurant franchise will open its doors welcoming a throng of hungry Washingtonians. This IHOP is different; UPO provided most of the salaried employees, some of whom ?t into the “hard to place” category.
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Jason Harris, operations director with Jackson Investment Company, LLC, the IHOP developer and franchise, interviews potential employee at UPO’s “Petey” Greene Community Service Center located in Congress Heights.
According to Sheila Clark, director of the agency’s Asset Development Division, UPO has worked with Father and Sons, LLC, a subsidiary of Jackson Investment Group, the franchisee, helping locate and train dependable candidates for full and part-time work at the new restaurant. “UPO provided recruitment and
screening services on a weekly basis using community residents who graduated from our Certi?ed Food Handlers classes, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) customers, Transitional Employment Customers via Project Empowerment, and others,” she says, adding “UPO has the ability to ?ll any position they need.” Jason Harris, operations director with the franchisee said his group saw a need for a ‘sit-down’ restaurant in the neighborhood and planned the IHOP. Mr. Harris, who in the 1990s worked for UPO as a summer youth counselor, said “We believe UPO has a very solid reputation and we wanted to align ourselves with an organization that prides itself on enriching and empowering communities within the inner city,” he said. Commenting on the relationship between his company and UPO, Harris said “My perspective is that we are both striving for a common goal with UPO developing quality career minded city residents for employment, and Father & Sons looking to
Please see “UPO Partnership ...” on page 7
UPO REPORTER