2011

Months ago ECCC offi– cials and Melanie Hart– ley, executive director of Leake Development Asso– ciation, approached Leake County supervisors about the vacant office building. Formerly housing coun– ty justice court functions, the building went empty when the county built new quarters ott t"he west side of the square on Mam Street across from Carthage City Hall. Community college and county officials hammered out a deal for ECCC to rent the site and, prior to occupation of the building,

do a little more than $20,000 in renovation work, funded by a state grant. "That was funding we were able to bring to the table from the State Board of Community and Junior Colleges," Knight said. The center of that reno– vation was getting the center ready for jobs training functions in the near future, he said. The bulk of the work, Knight said, was \viring and the like to prepare for "installation of training equipment later."

According to an ECCC Workforce Development; flier Carthage, like simi– lar centers in Decatur, Louisville and Philadelphia, will have video conferencing capa– bilities. The workforce develop– ment arm of ECCC, the :flier indicated, offered an array ot semces mcludmg technical training, advanced skills training, small business develop– ment, human resource services, basic skills serv– ices, healthcare instruc– tion and computer appli– cations.