Between car assembly workers and employees at supply factories, an estimated 4,000 Tennesseans were affected when General Motors shut down its Spring Hill plant last month. Now, the state is using stimulus money to offer them training for new jobs.
One million dollars in federal funds is headed to the South Central Tennessee Workforce Board. The office helps displaced workers find new careers to pursue, look for relevant training programs, and gives scholarships to pay for the classes.
Director Jan McKeel says people who’ve lost jobs with GM suppliers seem especially interested in change.
“So many of these folks have been through this before, not just in automotive but in manufacturing, so finally people have reached that tipping point where they’re like, ‘I’ll do whatever it takes to get into another field, another industry.’”
Based on inquiries so far, McKeel expects about 1,000 people will request scholarships for job training. That’s a big strain on the office.
“It’s not something you can take 50 people in a room and say, ‘OK everybody, this group is going to go this path and this group- you know, it really takes one-on-one advice and one-on-one listening and one-on-one explaining what’s gonna be involved.’”
McKeel says the federal funds mean she’ll have enough staff on hand to offer that kind of counseling to everyone who needs it. And for those who decide they want to go into entirely new careers, the grants will pay for training scholarships.
The board is about to apply for an additional federal emergency grant, which McKeel hopes will put another several million dollars into the program.
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