Speakers cover work release programs

J.O.B.S. Project meets Friday morning

COLUMBIA BASIN - Organizers seeking to recruit more employees into the area hear about how two programs can help their efforts Friday morning.

The group, the Central Washington J.O.B.S. Project, meets in the ATEC Building at Big Bend Community College Friday at 8 a.m.

Project Chair Allan Peterson said the group will hear about a Grant County work release program in which offenders go through training to prepare for industry work.

Gene Sharatt will talk about the Moses Lake High School Skills Center and how the project fits into the plan for a grant on a local and regional basis, Peterson said.

"I'd like to have better understanding of how the skill center and industry fits in with the J.O.B.S. Project," he said. "How we all can connect and make the program help make this employee shortage easier to fill."

The project's committees will give reports on procedures and where they are heading, Peterson added. The project will have a booth with computers at the Grant County Fair in August, and its training committee is working on short-term certificate training, he noted.

"We still need new members, we are always looking for more input, especially in our subcommittees now that they are putting their action plans together," he said. "We still need some community involvement."

The group next meets July 11, when Ohio resident Kelly Wallace, being brought into the area by the Grant County Economic Development Council, will share training programs and experiences of going through a process similar to the project, Peterson said.

For more information, call Peterson at 509-793-2373.