LYNN – It was all about local businesses doing their part to provide jobs for kids and young adults.Gov. Deval Patrick and Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Suzanne M. Bump arrived Tuesday to cheers at the Lynn Vocational Technical Institute where they kicked off the state’s YouthWorks summer program for 2007.The governor and other state officials used the occasion to recognize Lynn and Salem employers who will provide youth with summer jobs.YouthWorks is expected to serve at least 2,500 youth, between the ages of 14 and 21, in 22 communities statewide. The program will receive $4.6 million in state funds, up from last year’s $4 million. Additional summer job funding includes $1.3 million from the Executive Office of Public Safety.”By giving our children the opportunity to work during the summer months, we are providing them with the chance to learn the skills that will help them in the world beyond the classroom,” said Patrick.Before the Lynn Tech field house packed with enthusiastic students, the governor unveiled the telephone number to call for information on what the state has to offer through YouthWorks in their respective regions: (866) 968-8461.According to Patrick, providing youth with summer jobs is a relatively inexpensive proposition. For example, a 20-hour per week job paying $7.50 an hour costs the employer merely $150 per week or $1,200 for an eight-week experience.In 2006, 220 area teens were employed through YouthWorks. This year’s goal is 300. Four Lynn employers that provide summer jobs ? North Shore Bank, General Electric Co., Garelick Farms and Verizon ? sent representatives to the event. Several other North Shore businesses also provide job opportunities or financial support to the local program, FirstJobs.Introduced to the audience by Yanitza Thomas, secretary to the Lynn Tech class of 2008, the upbeat governor easily slipped into a story about growing up in one of Chicago’s rougher gang-plagued neighborhoods, of opportunities like attending Milton Academy on scholarship, and of the rich experiences he gained through a series of odd jobs. “My first job was serving snow cones,” he said, adding to the list other occupations such as janitor and busboy.Patrick urged the students to take advantage of summer job programs, in part because of the experience and also because gang violence in cities like Lynn is on the rise.”YouthWorks plugs people your age into summer jobs. It gives you something interesting to do,” he said, explaining that working a summer job at Verizon might provide opportunity to learn about technology. Above all, he asked the students to strive, suggesting a rank-and-file summer job at Garelick Farms might someday be parlayed into a management position, while a job at North Shore Bank could lead, ultimately, to the bank presidency.”Work experience at your age gives you a better chance of getting that job later on,” Patrick said.Beth Tichy, vice president of human resources at North Shore Bank, said the decision to hire teens for the past two years proved a wise one. “The bank had great help during the summer months, our full-time employees enjoyed having a new face in the mix that they could mentor and watch grow, and the tends learned about working and about banking from the employees around them,” she said. “I’d advise any company to bring on a young person in the summer months.”The governor publicly called upon all businesses in Lynn and throughout the state to make jobs available to kids.Citing a decline in teens among the state’s labor force, Bump said, “While there is no quick fix, YouthWorks provides a good starting point.”The North Shore Workforce Investment Board (WIB) administers the YouthWorks program in Lynn and Salem.”We know that teens want to work, and know that jobs can be hard to find,” said WIB Executive Director Mary Sarris. “Our goal is to strategically create teen jobs, and with the support of the governor, our partners in the state Legislature, and the local