For those who think the job market is tough, imagine being just released from state prison and never having put in an honest day of work in your life.

Finding a job would seem a pretty tall order.

But a nonprofit organization with a track record of helping ex-cons find work has opened an office in downtown Buffalo and so far has helped eight former inmates find permanent employment.

“We’re building basic work skills and evaluating them every day. We’re not building them in a classroom; we’re building the skills through work, on-the-job experience,” said Mindy S. Tarlow, executive director of the Center for Employment Opportunities. “Most adults learn by doing, and that’s what our model is all about.”

Denise E. O’Donnell, the state’s deputy secretary for public safety and a Buffalo resident, pushed to have the center, which started in 1996 in New York City, open a location here by getting Gov. David

A. Paterson to allocate about $1.2 million in federal stimulus money.

“CEO Buffalo represents a major step forward in our efforts to transform individuals’ lives and protect the public,”

said O’Donnell, who will attend the official opening of the site at 11 a. m. Friday at 170 Franklin St.

The money, she said, comes from a portion of the stimulus bill specifically designated for criminal-justice initiatives and will fund the Buffalo office for two years.

By putting parolees to work, the program targets the hard-to- reduce recidivism rate, which statewide sees 41 percent of inmates returning to prison within three years of their release. In Erie County, O’Donnell added, the rate is even higher, 51 percent, according to 2005 figures, the state’s most recent.

“We’ve come to recognize reentry is a public safety initiative, and by providing services to formerly incarcerated persons who want to change their lives, crime can be reduced,” O’Donnell said. “And that means less victims in Erie County.”

The work experience and training that parolees receive, O’Donnell said, provide a way for private sector employers to hire individuals they normally might not consider.

Tarlow, who is in New York City, said a federally funded study of CEO’s work re-entry program determined that parolees who participated had fewer future brushes with the law compared with a second group of parolees who did not receive the same help.

CEO reduced incarceration rates for parolees committing new crimes by 26.4 percent, Tarlow said.

Since the Franklin Street office began operating four months ago, more than 40 parolees have received job skills training and transitional employment on maintenance crews for the Buffalo Olmsted Park System.

CEO Buffalo pays each worker minimum wage for four days of work a week, and on the fifth day the workers rotate into the office for employment grooming aimed at moving them into the private sector with lessons in job interviewing techniques and resume writing.

“They work four days a week out in the field, and on the fifth day, they meet with the job coach, and she tries to find out what barriers would prevent them from succeeding in finding employment,” said Jeff Conrad, the on-site director of CEO Buffalo.

Norma Potter, the job coach, looks at a number of issues ranging from attitude toward work to punctuality in helping the individual improve himself. Potter bases her assistance on firsthand information provided by two CEO supervisors who accompany the work crews out in the field.

In addition, Conrad said, CEO recognizes that parolees have a number of other issues, such as lack of education, unsafe housing and often child support payments in arrears.

So the program includes efforts to put them in contact with Erie County Family Court and organizations that can help them get ahead.

“This is an opportunity for them to get back on their feet. For some, this is new to them. They’ve never even worked before,” Conrad said.

And what has the reaction been so far?

“They love the routine. They like getting up in the morning and working, cashing the check at the end of the day and going home,” he said.

At the same time, Natalie Lindner, CEO’s job developer, reaches out to private companies to find permanent job opportunities for the center’s transitional workers.

Parolee Ralph F. Smith, 28, of Buffalo, said he recognizes the chance he has been given to work his way back into the work force through CEO Buffalo.

“Attitude is the most important part,” said Smith, who had served three years in prison on a robbery conviction. “This is just a great opportunity trying to get back into the working field, to be a productive citizen. I would rather just have a job then be back in prison.”

As for shoveling snow off sidewalks in the city’s parks, he said it is honest work and he is glad to have it.