HANCEVILLE – Wallace State Community College is hosting a “Winston County Works” project open house on Wednesday, Aug. 3 from 1-3 p.m. at the Winston County Technical Center in Double Springs. Gov. Robert Bentley and local and state legislators are expected to attend the event.
The Winston County Works project was established last fall with the intention of increasing employability in Winston County. The program provides short-term basic skills training to support industry-recognized certificates and credentials, facilitating employment opportunities for participants in high-growth and high-demand occupations in the automotive manufacturing industry.
Classes offered this fall in Winston County include MSCC Certified Production Training for advanced manufacturing, welding credential opportunities through the American Welding Society, including OHSA 10, and commercial driver’s license (CDL) certification and truck driver training.
Winston County Works classes begin Monday, Aug. 8.
Winston County Works is expected to serve 250 workers/trainees over 18 months initially. Funding for the project is supplemented by institutional and Alabama Workforce Development funds and the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC).
Winston County, located in northwest central Alabama in the foothills of the Appalachians, is classified as a distressed area by the ARC, a federal program aimed at strengthening the capacity of people in the historically and systemically economically depressed area of the United States to compete in the global economy. In Winston County, 24 percent of the population lives below the poverty level, and the average median household income is $32,900.
Wallace State’s Ready to Work program, which provides basic and soft skills training for the workplace, currently operates two sites in Winston County. The Winston County Works program allows for expansion of these sites. Wallace State’s technical program directors will assist with job placement throughout the program — from training to completion to employment — and participants receive guidance and support from Wallace State Success Coaches.
The public is invited to attend the open house on Wednesday.
For more information about the project, contact Jamie Blackmon at 256-352-8461 or jamie.blackmon@wallacestate.edu.
Find the project on Facebook at http://qrne.ws/wcw.
