Mississippi, more than the land of sweet tea and hospitality, houses a broad spectrum of careers in the technical workforce. With career opportunities in welding, manufacturing and more, Mississippi’s workforce only needs retraining to be applicable for such lucrative professions.
Now, through the Appalachian Regional Commission POWER grant and the ACT Work Ready Community program, Choctaw and Webster counties are becoming better equipped to train the necessary workforce needed by local employers. The new grant and program will also work to attract businesses, establish new jobs and increase economic development in Choctaw and Webster counties.
Choctaw and Webster counties, along with Kemper and Winston counties, were awarded $730,559 from the ARC POWER grant. This funding coupled with an additional match required for the grant totals the project funding to $926,159.
The ARC POWER grant is designed to assist communities across the Appalachian region affected by job loss from coal-related industries. Nationwide there has been a loss of coal jobs, making counties with a large dependence on the coal industry eligible for these funds. This need was a primary factor in the state receiving the ARC POWER grant for the first time in 2018.
The ARC POWER grant was a result of collaboration within the four counties, local manufacturing employers, three community colleges and local K-12 school districts, as well as countless others throughout the state.
This grant will play a crucial role in training the Mississippi workforce by funding equipment for career and technical centers and offering workforce development classes. These classes will include welding, CNC, hydraulics and pneumatics, precision measurement and a 25-hour basic manufacturing safety class. All four counties will offer welding and the basic manufacturing safety class with each county offering specific workforce development classes based off the needs of their local manufacturing employers.
Choctaw County CTC is one of many the centers benefitting from the ARC POWER grant. The center will use its funding to upgrade their welding shop, specifically with an electrical utilities system to support the updated welding equipment that Holmes Community College will be purchasing and placing at the center. Holmes Community College is one of the colleges that participated in the collaborative effort to apply for the ARC POWER grant.
In conjunction with HCC, night technical training classes are offered every spring in the center and updating the equipment will make a huge difference in the quality of training provided. The equipment updates will also benefit local high school students who participate in the Agricultural Power and Machinery program run by Dudley Vance.
Ronda Huffman, director at Choctaw County CTC, said the effects of the ARC POWER grant will span generations and have a direct impact on economic development in Mississippi. Specifically, Huffman said the start of the long-term impact will begin with local high school students.
“This is going to stimulate interest in high school students to realize what the real workforce is about and to set some goals for their long-term employment opportunities,” Huffman said. “That will continue to impact families for years down the road.”
Slade Redwine, Holmes Community College workforce development coordinator, said the high school program at Choctaw County CTC is one of many programs helping to reshape the stigma surrounding technical careers, and the new equipment will provide students with the best technical education possible.
“There has been a stigma that kids who go a technical route aren’t smart. That is absolutely not true,” Redwine said. “The stigma is slowly fading away as parents who once pushed this stereotype learn for themselves that there are great careers in technical education that can provide a great living.”
Outside of developing the next generation through the ARC POWER grant, Redwine said those involved on the grant application process deliberately contacted existing industries and asked what workforce areas or technical skills they were lacking.
“It definitely gives us a leg up to have these things in place,” Redwine said. “However, a lot of people only want to look at getting new businesses in but expanding the businesses we already have will make an equally significant impact.”
Huffman said she is hopeful the grant will have immediate effects on workforce development at the center, especially because of the need for trained welders across the state.
“Welding, in huge demand right now,” Huffman said. “Our night welding courses help the local adult workforce with retraining so they can take advantage of local welding opportunities.”
Alongside the impact of the ARC POWER grant, The Enterprise of Mississippi is now in the process of leading Choctaw and Webster counties to becoming ACT Work Ready Communities. Classification in this program will help potential employers identify Choctaw and Webster counties as having an able, ready workforce.
To participate in this program, a local team attended the ACT Work Ready Communities Boot Camp last November. Designed to teach participants new ways to successfully implement and set standards for the local workforce, this boot camp was the first of many steps in full-certification as a Work Ready Community.
Tina Lee, human resources at Southeastern Timber Products and attendee for the ACT Work Ready Communities Boot Camp last Nov., said the experiences and learning opportunities provided at her training were beneficial.
“This program will be beneficial in helping employers make better hiring choices. By looking at the scoring of each applicant, we will be able to see their strengths and weaknesses. Better hiring choices will make turnover rates go down, better productivity and the employee should enjoy their job more knowing they are in the position that best fits them. Southeastern Timber Products is excited to see the program get started and encourages other employers to become a part of this program.”
Participation in the Work Ready Community would not have been possible without a generous grant from the Mississippi Partnership WIOA Division administered by Three Rivers Planning and Development District.
Due in part to the ARC POWER grant and becoming an ACT Work Ready Community, Choctaw and Webster counties can expect an increase in economic and workforce growth over the next decade. Technical training and job opportunities in these counties not only help individual workers looking for training or employment, but will also contribute to the economic development of the region and to Mississippi.
