Will a new job training center at Charles Young help solve Lexington’s labor shortages?
Lexington will soon open a job training and workforce development office to connect residents looking for jobs with eight different groups with job training programs.
The new Lexington Workforce Resource Center will be located at Charles Young Center on East Third Street.
A kick-off event and grand opening is scheduled for July 8 at 10 a.m. That will be the first date the center will be open.
Eight workforce development partners, including Jubilee Jobs, Goodwill Industries, Bluegrass Community and Technical College, will be available for questions about job training and placement. The program will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
But appointments are also available. A monthly schedule of available job training programs will be posted on its website at www.lexingtonky.gov/lexwork.
BCTC has a federal grant that will help pay for people to go back to school, Dickinson said. “BCTC also has apprenticeships.”
Those workforce partners will report weekly on how many people either call or come to Charles Young Center for job training opportunities.
It will be a six-month pilot program.
“It will be a one-stop shop for residents to gain access to our workforce partners,” said Elodie Dickinson, workforce development manager for the city. “The intent is to make it accessible and available at the neighborhood level.”
The job training partners are offering the services for free, Dickinson said.
In addition to job training, a staffer with United Way of the Bluegrass will also be there to provide social service referrals if needed. If someone comes to the center for job training but does not have a home, that person can be referred to another social service provider.
If it helps enough people, the program will continue, said Dickinson.
“We hope it will work so we can implement it in other parts of town,” Dickinson said.
It will cost roughly $16,000. That money is for hard costs such as information technology and office supplies. But that money could be used to pay for equipment for someone who has a job offer, she said.
Opening a job training center was one of the recommendations of Mayor Linda Gorton’s Racial Justice and Equality Commission, which released more than 54 recommendations in October dealing with racial justice issues, including economic development.
The city had a similar job training center called the Mayor’s Training Center which closed during then-Mayor Jim Newberry’s administration after questions arose about it possibly duplicating already existing services.
“This is exactly what we need and more of it,” said Councilwoman Susan Lamb, during the council’s work session on Tuesday. “Hopefully we can expand it to other buildings in our city.”
Many companies in Lexington and across the country have struggled to find employees during and coming out of the pandemic.
