Search for outstanding worker starts

Experience Works, a training and employment organization for mature workers nationwide, is searching for Alaska's outstanding older worker.

For the eighth year, outstanding older workers from every state and the outstanding employers of older workers will be honored in Washington, D.C., and also in their home states, for their contributions to the workforce and communities.

The awards program was created to highlight the contributions that older workers make in their communities and places of work.

The Employment Services Division of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development is soliciting nominations from businesses and individuals.

Applicants must be 65 years of age or older, a resident of Alaska, currently employed and working a minimum 20 hours each week for pay.

The honoree must also be able to travel to Washington, D.C., the week of Sept. 26 for the Prime Time Awards event.

The visit will include meetings with congressional representatives, the Prime Time Awards banquet and ceremony.

Applicants who are part of a subsidized employment program funded by an local, state or national government are not eligible for the award.

Official nomination forms may be obtained from and mailed to Prime Time Awards, c/o Jeff Kemp, P.O. Box 25509 Juneau, AK 99802. For more information, call (907) 465-4872 or fax (907) 465-5945.

Nomination form can be accessed online at www.experienceworks.org. The deadline for nominations is May 31.

Beulah May Poindexter, 80, who is a greenhouse owner from Anchor Point, was a past recipient.

Experience Works was established in 1965 as Green Thumb, and renamed Experience Works in 2002. The organization reaches more than 125,000 mature individuals in all 50 states and Puerto Rico each year.