This article was originally published on clevelandbanner.com.
From Tom Rowland Cleveland Mayor
There’s been some great news recently from Cleveland State Community College. CSCC is starting its second half-century by adding even more services that will make our Cleveland area workforce even stronger.
Early in July, Cleveland State received a Veterans Reconnect Grant through the governor’s Drive to 55 initiative. The Cleveland State grant, valued at $80,000, from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, is intended to fund programs that ease our veterans’ transition to college or career training. Part of that process is determining how to count military experience toward college credits.
It has been noted that veterans make great employees. Any college program that takes their military experience into account is a positive step for the veterans and for our region’s economy.
Later in July, the campus announced it had won a contract from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development to locate an American Job Center on campus. More than 2,500 American Job Centers are located across the country funded through the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Job Training Administration to offer free help to job seekers.
This additional resource at Cleveland State is still more good news for our residents preparing for the jobs our region already offers and the many more jobs anticipated when our new industrial park is ready.
These programs join many other employment resources on campus and in our city. Cleveland High School offers excellent technology and career-oriented classes to our young students. The Cleveland/Bradley Chamber of Commerce’s “Your Skills, Your Future” is another great new workforce development program to use. Many of our corporations offer other training and career goal programs, as well.
All these programs are a strong support for the people who make up the Cleveland metropolitan area workforce.
Businesses and industries, large and small, frequently point out that an important factor in their decisions to locate here and stay here is attributed to our workforce and our dedicated people.
That’s good news for “The City With Spirit.”