2009

WEEKOF~~~~--------

ECCC offering special rate to assist laid off worl{ers East Cemral Commumty

Workforce Development staff and other college officials met with approximate!} 500 dislo- . cated . worker<> at · a rapid response meeting last \'feek at the Choctaw Hospitality Insti– tute in Chocta'W. It wa., recently announced that nearl) 600 workers lost job~ at the Golden Moon Re~on and Casino located on the Pearl River Re~ort in Choctaw ro qualify for tlle 2009 Spting Incentive Two-for-One program. ..tudent-. mu't fiN enroll in one or two course::. offered e•ther on the Decatur campus or an) off-can1pu' loca– tion, and tl1en select an addition– al free course from a "tbignat– ed" li:-.t of cla..ses. The incentive progmm applies to part-ttme \lU– dcnts only those who enroll m no more than II hours of .,emes– ter credit. (See related stol) page 2A for more information) Persons seeking emplo)ment in Ncshoba and other arl!a cotm– tie-. are also in\ited to the East Central Mississippi Job Fair on Feb. 12 in the county co!J~eum. Over IS employers ,. ill be in attendance to pro,ide mforma– tion about employment opponu– mtics from 9 a.m to 1 p.m Employers from Ne~hoba. Lauderdale. Ne\\tun. 1\.emper, Winston and Leal-;e counties wtll have booth., set up. said Da' n.l Vowell. president of the Com– munity Development Partner– shtp. Other econom1c developer" from those countic~ are "orking in conjunction wtth East Central Community College. the WIN Job Center, Pearl River Re~on. and the Governor'~ Office of Job Fair Network to bring the joh fair to the area to help people seeking employment opponuni

Organi7efl> are also making arrangements to provide trans– p<)f(ation from area counues to the coliseum for the job fair, Vtl'Well o;aid. Hopefttlly, that will be worked out laler tllis month, he ...atd Informatlon on the job fair a~ \\ell a-; other economic opponu– rutie~ were also outlined last week at the Choctaw Hospitality ln~tttute for employees affected by the recent layoffs at Pearl R•,er Resort. A numbeTh of those employ– ees signed up to attend the frrst of several te~tmg ses!>ions Thursday for potential employ– ment with the ll. S. Censu~ Bureau. Vowell satd. The testing sessions will lx held in the Neshoba Busine~s Enterprise Center. OlheTh \\ho would like to sign up for future testing should calll-866-861-2010. 'The Census position~ are expected to pay between $8 and S 17 an hour. Vowell said. "Some will email about five weeks of \I.Ork while others po~>ttions wtn laM about two year,." Laid off workers were aho encouraged to call the Mt:-,~tssip­ pi Employment Securit) Com– mi~sion at 1-888-844-3577 to file for unempiO}ment benefits. MESC wtll offer workshops at a later date at CHl in regard~ to resume prcpamuons and jobl> search skills tratnmg and per– haps other training cla~ses as well.

College in Decatur is offering a spectal "two-for-one.. rate for designated academic and techni– cal courc;es for the 2009 spring semel>ter in an effort to assist dblocatcd workcrc;. including those from Pearl River Resort, who were affected by a strug– gling e(:onomy. Meanwhile. The Ncshoba Democrat ,.,.;11 offer free work wanted classified ads to laid off Pearl River Resort workefl> to help mtttgate the tmpact of income loss on the local ccono– m). the new'>paper announced. The

-NESHOBA DEMOCRAT ------- NEWTON RECORD --------------- MERIDIAN STAR ----------------- CLARION-LEDGER ---------------

Members of the College's ties. V¥11"4 \) I U N \.,UUN I T '-'UUI'\1"41-\L - - - --- - SPIRIT OF MORTON --------------------