From using a restaurant’s hotspot to serve clients to setting up shop at the library and other temporary homes, the Work-Source Coastal crew is back in its familiar digs.
Local and state officials cut the ribbon Tuesday to welcome the organization back into its former home, which it had to leave after a fire two years ago.
Interim director Sharon Morgan thanked the City of Hinesville and Liberty County for its help after the fire forced WorkSource Coastal out of its home on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
“The love that we received the next morning was the most important,” Morgan said. “Their concern was, ‘how are we going to serve the people?’ The love we received the next day was something I will never forget. I thank you for the love we received that night and that we are still receiving.”
While Tuesday marked an official re-opening, the office has been opened since last Thursday.
“We are going to resume customized employment training services for the residents and job seekers of Liberty County and surrounding counties,” said Lynn Tootle, chairman of the WorkSource Coastal board.
WorkSource Coastal, which serves a 10-county region, provides, among other services, employment and training services for those ages 16–24, job services for veterans, help for other eligible adults to find jobs and get training for those jobs and can help employers match their needs to the labor pool.
WorkSource Coastal tries to promote, develop, support and sustain a globally- competitive workforce, Tootle said. Its four main goals are job readiness, including job placement, interview workshops and resume’ creation, referrals to adult education classes, career interest assessments and training for the jobs in demand.
“It’s not enough for us to get people ready to work,” he said. “They need a place to go. We need to make sure we are developing the people to meet these needs.”
“I’ve got a lot of scars fighting for economic development in Liberty County,” Liberty County Commission Chairman Donald Lovette said. “But we also have to have the folks ready to take those jobs. We are trying to ensure the opportunities are here.”
The state’s economy is “roaring,” newly-elected Labor Commissioner Bruce Thompson declared. The national unemployment rate is 3.5%, and Georgia’s is at 3%. The numbers for Liberty County, 2.8%, and Long, 2.7%, are even stronger.
But economies also go in cycles, Thompson said, and a downward trend could mean more people looking for work.
“If we don’t figure out to how to work together, we will no longer be the No. 1 state to do business,” he said. “We can make sure Georgia stays No. 1.”
There also are other segments of the population who also will be competing for jobs, Thompson pointed out.
“There are people who were incarcerated who want to come back and participate,” he said. “There are young people who grew up in environments who don’t see a way out. There are veterans who are getting into the private sector.”
The WorkSource Coastal building is also home to the state Department of Labor’s Hinesville Career Center, which will be open from 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The DOL is working on getting staff for the center and those interested can learn more and apply by visiting https://bit.ly/3LQ,52S.
Morgan praised her staff, along with Daisy Jones for helping with a temporary location, before they could move back in.
“The staff worked really hard when we were displaced to still serve the people of Liberty County,” she said.
