It is hard to imagine a more critical time for helping the low-skilled and disenfranchised youth in our communities to become gainfully employed. Even as the nation suffers through its worst economic downturn in decades, America's business and industry leaders are predicting an unprecedented shortage of educated and skilled workers to meet the increasing pressures of global competition. According to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the United States is facing a possible shortage of 14 million workers with college-level skills by 2020. The Annie E. Casey Foundation reports that in 2006 nearly 1.4 million teens between the ages of 16 and 19 were neither enrolled in school nor working. To develop America's future workforce, policymakers and youth development practitioners across the country must engage employers directly and meaningfully at the outset and throughout their efforts to employ at-risk youth. Year Up, an organization that seeks to prepare urban young adults for thriving careers and higher education, has enjoyed tremendous success in engaging and meeting the workforce needs of employers. Its program model is premised on simple business principles: (1) develop a relationship with your customers; (2) understand their needs; (3) offer a top-quality solution; and (4) institute a management strategy of continuous improvement. The Year Up organization takes an entrepreneurial approach to employer engagement that goes beyond the rhetorical as demonstrated by its strength of commitment to providing a value-added service. It presents a viable model for youth and workforce development organizations to study, learn from, and use. For serving this select population of students, its results are not only worthy of note for these organizations, but also for potential funders and policymakers. (Contains 5 footnotes.)