Job Connections, a weekly career networking and support group that has met in Danville since 2002, is a highly regarded assistance group for job-seekers in the Bay Area and throughout Northern California.

The program is so successful that it recently caught the attention of the national TV show  "60 Minutes."

A crew from the CBS Sunday night show will film Job Connections in action Saturday at Community Presbyterian Church.

Clips from the event will be part of a segment on the "unemployment crisis in America."

According to Dean Tracy, founder of Job Connections, producers from "60 Minutes" originally had planned to do a story about the "Ninety-Niners" (people who have exhausted their unemployment benefits, which last 99 weeks) and Silicon Valley. While researching the story locally, producers learned about Job Connections and contacted Tracy.

He says Job Connections will be featured in the segment as a resource for people caught in the unemployment epidemic.

Most Sunday mornings, Tracy can be found driving the rhythm in the main sanctuary as a part of Community Presbyterian Church worship band's percussion section, but he also is the driving force behind Job Connections.

In 2002, he saw an opportunity to increase the reach and impact of the then small, informal group of six to eight people who met during the week at the church.

A former IT executive, he built a company, DeanTracyJobs.com, specializing in national recruiting, outplacement and career-coaching services, as well as motivational speaking. He drew on his leadership background and professional experience to reframe the church program.

The structured program was held Saturdays from 9 to 11:30 a.m., and included weekly speakers and a new member orientation process.

Each year it also held a free job summit at which job-seekers could hear from leading business leaders. Last year, 1,400 people attended the event, Tracy says.

The group "grew and grew each week" and now has 3,400 active members, according to Tracy, "from all four points of the Bay Area."

Each Saturday about 120 people gather for networking and support. The program is led by a larger leadership team, headed by Tracy and facilitated by volunteers.

The program builds bridges with the business community by bringing the program to the attention of recruiters. 

Tracy says the program teaches its members that "it is important to realize that they are not alone," and he says people gain a "sense of hope and peace through the program."

The group stresses that there are "no prerequisites to join." The program is free and open to the public, church attending, or not. Tracy says that they "do not want money or religious affiliation to prevent people from coming."

He also says the program serves all profiles of job seekers in career transition, and stresses that "it doesn't matter what they did before, they are all making the same amount of money now — zero."

Job Connections meets each Saturday from 9  to 11:30 a.m. at Community Presbyterian Church in Danville.

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