COUNTY TAXES INCREASE AS UNCERTAINTY ABOUNDS
Mike McCagg
ccSCOOP News
01-07-10 - 11:15 p.m. - While there are still record numbers of unemployed residents in Columbia County, a job retraining program will soon find its funding exhausted.
The federal- and state-funded job training program at Columbia-Greene Community College will run out of its 2009-10 funding next month, essentially ending its ability to offer vocational training until the next fiscal year starts on July 1.
“We will be able to help [dislocated workers] with their job search . . . but we won’t be able to help them go back to school and get job training,” said M. A. Wiltse, Executive Director of the Workforce Investment Office at C-GCC.
With the unemployment rate in Columbia and Greene counties at an all-time high for much of the past year, the office has seen its annual allocation for job retraining—approximately $250,000—exhausted. Wiltse said her office provided assistance to 2,900 dislocated workers during the 2008–09 fiscal year and helped 120 people earn their GEDs, as well as providing summer employment services to 160 youth. While she doesn’t have all of the numbers for this year, Wiltse said that the number of people seeking assistance is equal to, if not greater than, it was at this time last year. “We helped 600 people between July and September,” said Wiltse, noting that another 90 dislocated workers are receiving vocational training at this time.
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Job fair at C-GCC in the fall of 2008 |
The job training programs are provided to dislocated workers who are unlikely to be able to return to their previous jobs and could use new job skills. Through the initiative, eligible people receive tuition to pay for training for jobs that are in demand at the time. In the past, those have included jobs in accounting, jobs as nurses and truck drivers, and other positions that area employers have had a hard time filling.
While the Columbia County unemployment rate has shown a slight improvement recently, it is still much higher than it was a year ago. In November 2009, the unemployment rate dropped .2 percent to 7.2 percent, but in November 2008, the county’s unemployment rate was just 5.2 percent. Wiltse says the number of people needing job training assistance remains high, and the improved unemployment rate doesn’t take into account the number of people who have stopped looking for work.
The office found itself in the same situation last year but was able to continue providing services to area residents once the federal stimulus bill passed. The legislation provided $300,000 in funds to the agency for dislocated worker training and adult job training programs and another $170,000 was allocated for summer jobs for youth and youth job training programs.
Wiltse said she is not expecting any such assistance this year. “I am not aware of another stimulus bill or any additional funding,” she said.
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