One-Stop Center gets boon; Experience in Hollywood helps local counselor

Special to the River Cities Business Journal

KINGMAN - Bill Hargrove brings his experience of helping Hollywood stars to his new job of helping Mohave County residents improve their lives.

Hargrove began working for Mohave County Community and Economic Development Department as a Title V resource clerk in August of 2006.

“We were new in town and I felt as though I wanted to be productive and make some sort of contribution to the community,” he said. “I was referred over by Jerry Ambrose. I came to the county and talked to a fellow from REPAC (Re-Employment and Pre-Layoff Assistance Center) Consortium he told me about this position.”

Hargrove works 19.5 hours per week in the One-Stop Career Center situated in the Mohave County Administration Building.

“The One-Stop is a multifaceted county service agency, involving the WIA (Workforce Investment Act), designed to help people find work,” he said. “People come in and we register them so they can use the facilities in finding jobs. We help them with resumes, job skill assessments and available training. Some of the programs allow for education, retraining assistance. Many people are able to get their GEDs (General Education Diplomas) with our help. We deal with senior citizens, young people and everyone in between.”

As well as helping teenagers to find their first jobs, adults to find better jobs and retired people to find their way back into the workforce, Hargrove volunteers to help local youths who have substance problems.

“I am proud to be part of the Coalition for Successful Youth Development,” he said. “Gov. Janet Napolitano has just granted $500,000 for the program and we formed a Coalition here in Kingman. It is aimed toward understanding and developing a strategy to deal with underage binge drinking in Mohave County. The Coalition is made up of a lot of active residents. Monica Gates is the chair. I have great interest in this program as it is a part of the work I did earlier in my life in Hollywood.”

Hargrove had lived and worked in the Los Angeles area for many years prior to moving to Kingman.

“I was born in Phoenix but moved to Redondo Beach, Calif., when I was 10,” he said. “I graduated from South Torrance High School and went to Long Beach State to study journalism. I worked for the Los Angeles Times in the editorial department from 1964 until 1970.”

But journalism wasn't his goal in life. Hargrove went on to school to become a certified drug and alcohol counselor and certified employee assistance professional.

“I became president of the San Fernando Chapter of the Employee Assistance Programs Association,” he said. “This came about when the entertainment industry, the aircraft industry and various unions decided they needed someone unbiased, outside their work organizations, to assess troubled employees and make therapeutic recommendations.

“In 1987, it became more and more apparent to the studios and the Hollywood community that they were losing a great deal of money due to emotional health problems and chemical dependency problems among their employees,” Hargrove said. “There was an awful cocaine problem in town at that time. An entire production day could go down the drain if a pivotal person such as a performer, or even a cameraman or someone else, called in ill that day for whatever reason. It caused a great loss of productivity. By 1988, there were several people who were interested in having the industry intervene in some therapeutic and formal way to deal with those problems. Because it was already believed that many people could be helped and that was a way to avoid these sorts of costly delays in production.

“I remember one time in particular at the Disney studios when Betty Ford showed up for a meeting,” he said. “It was a surprise to me. The question was whether the studios would get involved with money to help address the problems, in other words, establish a benefit program that would come right from the health and welfare pension. And she spoke very fervently about the idea of recovery. It was an inspirational time. She really carried the day. From that moment on, I felt a switch in the community's thinking. And before long the producers' guild, directors' guild and the motion picture health plan began talking about doing something. I was already involved in this sort of thing through a hospital program. It was an exciting time and I was there.

“That led to the establishment of the Entertainment Industry Referral and Assistance Center,” he added. “When we first started it was just some money to help deal with chemical dependency of studio workers only from the various unions - Screen Actors Guild, etc. It really did go well. It was our job to assess and evaluate whoever the studios sent over and make therapy recommendations for treatment or counseling. After a couple of years they extended that benefit to emotional health problems and then after a couple more years they extended that to employees' family members.

“We worked long and hard until about 2002,” Hargrove said. “At that time, a managed care company called Pacific Care convinced the motion picture health plan to start using them as a provider. About a year later the directors' guild did the same thing.

“For all those earlier years, we really were involved with everything that happened at the studios and all the people who really do make the movies work,” he said. “There was an interesting development in 1996 when the musicians' union took an interest. There was an awful problem there. Up until that time it really did appear that many of the record producers were turning their heads away and ignoring the problems. It wasn't appropriate. But then they learned the value of facing the problems and improving their productivity.”

During those years, Hargrove opened an after-care home in Toluca Lake, Calif.

“I might have been the first to establish a Sober Living Environment,” he said. “It was two houses. The front house had nine occupants and the guest house had five. There were many well-known people who lived there for a while. It became known as an after-care home. People would go through treatment and some of them needed support, guidance and monitoring to help phase them back into their lives. There were a lot of musicians and actors right out of treatment and they would re-enter their careers. Sometimes they would have to have someone go to work with them for support. That facility worked so well, and I really enjoyed it, that I also opened one up in North Hollywood and then one in Reseda. The program also dealt with mental health problems.

“Sometimes I referred people to other centers. There are wonderful facilities in Arizona. There is Sierra Tucson and a great place in Wickenburg named The Meadows. These were established way before their time as healing centers using a holistic approach that went beyond just the therapeutic interventions.”

In 2002, Hargrove became executive director of a facility in Pasadena.

“I had a great time there for about three years,” he said. “During all my years in the business, I had a lot of interaction with the entertainment industry. We used to be called to the studios when an incident occurred on site. I believe I have been involved in one way or another in every major incident that took place in the studios during my years in therapeutic assistance. The studio people are extremely professional. They are not only skilled, but they love what they do. It's their lives. I was on the sets of a lot of movies and dealt with a lot of famous people. I had the opportunity to know them very well. They worked hard to overcome difficulties because they really value their careers.”

The Hargroves initially visited Kingman on weekends and when they decided to make a change, the Valle Vista area became home.

“It's comfortable in Kingman,” he said, “because people take the time to talk to each other. I didn't expect that in Los Angeles. People are friendlier here.

“My wife, Arie, was a first-grade teacher in Los Angeles,” he said. “Our daughter, Brooke, lives in New York City and is married to an entertainment attorney who also produces talent and recently won a Grammy Award. Our son, Bill, just hit town. He moved to Kingman with his merchant service business and he's doing very well.

“I enjoy my work and have a very high opinion of the One-Stop. I think it offers wonderful resources to people. There are a whole bunch of caring people working here. They are all givers. What I am doing today is a lot like what I used to do. We meet people, consider their circumstances and, knowing what resources are available, offer them assistance to better their lives.”