Muhlenberg Job Corps Center student Matthew Kennedy, Greenville City Administrator Ben VanHooser and Business & Community Liaison Gary Jones visited the Kentucky Capital along with students and staff from four other Kentucky Job Corps centers.  Katie Dailinger, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Development and Bill Riggs, Deputy Secretary for the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet for Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear visited with the Kentucky Job Corps Consortium. Dailinger and Riggs were impressed with how Job Corps centers are tied into the workforce system and how important Job Corps centers are to the local economies.

 Nyra Syers-Ford, Business & Community Liaison at the Earle C. Clements Job Corps Academy scheduled the meeting for the Kentucky Job Corps Consortium.  The meeting was a great experience for the students but also a learning experience for the Govenor’s staff.  Dailinger and Riggs were impressed with the level of training and the number of courses offered at the Kentucky centers.  Deputy Secretary Riggs was impressed with the Job Corps centers involvement with the Workforce Investment Boards across the state and the tie into the one stop centers across Kentucky.  Ben VanHooser, Greenville City Administrator, told the group how the Muhlenberg Job Corps Center is an integral part of the Muhlenberg economy.

Matthew Kennedy, student at Muhlenberg, discussed with the group how his training in the Heavy Equipment Operators program and his Commercial Drivers License would enhance his life after graduation.  Kennedy said, “I came to Job Corps after working numerous minimum wage jobs, I have received my high school diploma and certification in two career technical training areas.  I feel like I am better qualified to enter the world of work.”

Job Corps, which started in 1964, has trained over two million young adults for the ever changing workforce.  It is the largest residential job training program in the nation.