SANFORD - When you’re out of work, you want and need to find a new job quickly.

Central Carolina Community College’s JobsNOW program is offering short-term training in jobs that are currently hiring in the college’s service area of Chatham, Harnett and Lee counties.

JobsNOW is open to dislocated or unemployed workers. Laid-off or displaced workers may have their class costs paid by Workforce Investment Act job re-training benefits. Other participants may be eligible for other programs to help pay for the classes.  

JobsNOW programs offered at the college are Nursing Assistant I, Phlebotomy Technician, Optometric Assistant, Sanitation & Safety/ServSafe Certification, Introduction to Food & Beverage Serving Techniques, Medical Office Administration, and Welding.

“These courses were chosen based on job projections for our area,” said Phyllis Huff, the college’s Senior Director of Basic Skills and Extension Education. “There are employment opportunities in these areas.”

All are continuing education certificate programs for which training can be completed in from a few weeks to six months. These classes are in addition to the ongoing continuing education and curriculum job training programs offered by the college.

CCCC’s JobsNOW program officially kicks off with an information session from 8:30 a.m.-11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 13, at the Dennis A. Wicker Civic Center, in Sanford. Prospective students are invited to attend, meet the instructors and sign up for classes.

JobsNOW is a statewide initiative of Gov. Bev Perdue to put North Carolinians back to work as quickly as possible and boost the state’s economy. The N.C. Department of Commerce’s Workforce Development Division and the N.C. Community College System put the program together. Statewide, it is funded by a $13.4 million grant from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Retraining programs are offered through the member colleges of the NCCCS, with each college offering targeted workforce retraining for jobs available in its service area. Central Carolina received $300,000 of ARRA funding to establish its JobsNOW program. It will enroll up to 170 dislocated or unemployed workers.

“JobsNOW is an excellent opportunity for the college to expand its resources to fulfill some of its most important missions: training people for gainful employment and serving as a positive economic catalyst in our service area,” said Dr. Bud Marchant, college president. “Unemployment is a challenge to individuals, families, and the community at large. It benefits all of us to retrain people and get them back to work.”

These participants will have the option of retraining and returning immediately to the workforce or using their JobsNOW training as a prerequisite to enroll in a curriculum program. For example, Nursing Assistant I can lead to immediate employment and is also a prerequisite for more advanced curriculum nursing programs. JobsNOW will track those completing the programs to determine if they achieved their goal.

“We want all 170 participants to complete the JobsNOW program and accomplish their goal of either immediate employment or becoming a Central Carolina curriculum student,” said Theresa Cry, the college’s Director of Enrollment/JobsNOW Counselor. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”

The college has a partnership with area offices of the N.C. Employment Security Commission for the offices to refer clients who need job retraining to the college. The offices will also help find employment for those completing the programs.

“JobsNOW is another opportunity to retrain workers rapidly in fields that are in demand in our area and meet employers’ needs for qualified workers,” said Edith Edmond, manager of the ESC’s Lee County office and director for the Lee County JobLink Career Center. “It’s a great thing to help the economy and to increase the educational level of the workforce. We hope this is a first step for them to continue to increase their workforce skills.”

Those interested in enrolling should contact the Continuing Education office at one of the college’s campuses: Chatham, (919) 542-6495, ext. 223; Harnett, (910) 814-8823; or Lee, (919) 718-7225; Theresa Cry by email at tcry@cccc.edu; or attend the information session.