By BILL JONES

Staff Writer

Local job-seekers may not find they have to travel out of town for help after the state closes its Tennessee Career Center here at the end of August -- thanks to the Center for Workforce Development at Walters State Community College.

Dr. Nancy Brown, dean of Workforce Development at Walters State Community College, said the Center for Workforce Development (CWD) at WSCC plans to fill at least part of the void created when the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development closes its Tennessee Career Center here on Aug. 31.

She noted during a Thursday telephone interview that the CWD administers the federal Workforce Investment Act (WIA) in a 10-county area that includes Greene County.

As a result, she said, in the 10-county area, the CWD currently has staff members located at Tennessee Career Centers operated by the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development -- including the Greeneville center.

Services Moving To WSCC

When the Tennessee Career Center at Greeneville closes, effective Aug. 31, Dr. Brown said, plans are for Debbie Johnson, the Career Center specialist with the Center for Workforce Development, to move across College Street into the Walters State Greeneville/Greene County Center for Higher Education building.

The new location, she said, likely will be reached from the North Main Street side of the Walters State Center.

"The relocated center will include a resource area with job-related resources, such as newspapers, computers, and a fax machine," Dr. Brown wrote.

"The move is scheduled for August 2008. Adult Education, one of the Career Center partners, is already located in the WSCC Greeneville center."

"Even though the Department of Labor office (Tennessee Career Center) is closing, many services will remain available to employers and job-seekers through Workforce Investment Act (WIA) services, which will relocate with other Career Center partners to the Walters State Greeneville-Greene County Center for Higher Education," Dr. Brown wrote.

May Use Existing Name

During the telephone interview, Dr. Brown said Walters State Community College officials are trying to obtain permission from the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development to use the Tennessee Career Center name for the new facility at WSCC's Greeneville-Greene County Center for Higher Education.

Services which the Center for Workforce Development provides, she said, include assisting individuals with job searches and job readiness, including writing resumes and preparing for interviews; assessing job interests and skills, including testing for Career Readiness Certificates; and providing training for individuals who need training to obtain or retain a job.

"WIA employer services, including on-the-job training and incumbent-worker training, will still be available in new locations in Greeneville and Tazewell after the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development staff is relocated to the regional Tennessee Career Center at Talbott," Dr. Brown wrote in a press release.

Employers, however, will continue to place job orders with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development staff at other Tennessee Career Centers (after the Tennessee Career Center at Greeneville closes), according to Dr. Brown.

Those who wish to apply for unemployment compensation, also will have to deal with the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development at other locations after the local Tennessee Career Center closes.

CWD Background

The Center for Workforce Development at Walters State Community College, Dr. Brown noted, is responsible for the administration of WIA funds from the U.S. Department of Labor, and for providing WIA services in the 10 counties in the Smoky Mountains Workforce Area (Claiborne, Cocke, Grainger, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Hawkins, Jefferson, Sevier and Union).

The CWD, Dr. Brown said, currently provides federally-funded Workforce Investment Act services to adults and dislocated workers in area career centers as well as services to youth in each county, and promotes workforce development.

Policies for the Workforce Investment Act programs in the Smoky Mountains Workforce Area are established by a local workforce board, which has a majority of private-sector members, according to a news release from Dr. Brown.

Noah Roark, director of marketing and human services at Laughlin Memorial Hospital, is the vice chairman of the board. The 10 county mayors, including Mayor Alan Broyles, form the Consortium of Local Elected Officials. The consortium appoints the private sector members to the board, she noted.

Center Closure's Background

A spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development confirmed this week that the Tennessee Career Center at Greeneville is closing effective Aug. 31 when its current building lease expires.

The spokesman said that inadequate federal funding was the key factor forcing the closure here and in a number of other Tennessee communities.

Local job-seekers also will be able to find help in other state Career Centers in Johnson City, Newport, Rogersville and Talbott, after the Greeneville Center closes.

The closing of the local Career Center, which is located in the Rhea Building at 214 N. College St., had been rumored here recently.

No official announcement of the impending closure of the office had been made, however, and no announcement was planned, according to Milissa Reierson, a spokesman for the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development.

"Yes, it is true," Reierson wrote in response to an e-mail message about the rumored closing.

"Our staff will inform employers and job-seekers about the transfer of [Career Center] services to other career centers near them," she said in response to a Greeneville Sun reporter's question.

Reierson said the three employees of the local Tennessee Career Center likely will be transferred to the Tennessee Career Center in Talbott when the Greeneville office closes on Aug. 31. The Talbott Career Center currently has nine employees, she said.

Several other local offices across the state have been affected as well since last year, she stated.

Since Jan. 1, 2007, Reierson said, the Department of Labor & Workforce Development has closed -- or has made plans to close -- 12 Career Centers across the state.

Tennessee Career Centers located in Dandridge and Tazewell also are being closed this summer, according to information provided by Reierson.

"No (Career Center) employees will lose their jobs, and instead (will) be transferred to other centers," Reierson said.

Reierson did not mention this week that there was a possibility that another agency might offer the services currently provided by the Tennessee Career Center at Greeneville in another location.