WIN Center Moves to New Location, Still Helping Workers Find Jobs PDQ
MAYHEW – Courtesy of the Commercial Dispatch
The WIN center, which helps to match prospective employees up with jobs of all sorts, is up and running during its move to a new facility at EMCC’s Center for Manufacturing Technology Excellence in Mayhew.
Calvin Dailey, an interviewer with the WIN center, said the state-funded job placement center regularly draws 200 to 400 people, mostly job-seekers, per week from Clay, Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Noxubee and neighboring counties, depending on the season. “If you just come in here saying, ‘I need a job today,’ nine times out of 10, we’re able to get you a job today because you just want employment,” he said. “But if you come in and you’ve got a resume and you want something specific, we’re going to work with you until we help you get that job.” He went on to remark that “Moving here turns us into a one-stop shop; moving here was a great benefit to our people, really.”
Once a client comes seeking a job, WIN creates a profile — that can be used at any WIN center in the state — and helps track potential matching openings. The WIN center also offers a variety of training programs, designed to help workers build better resumes, dress for success, and more. They also provide assistance to workers displaced due to jobs being outsourced overseas, as well as to veterans in search of work.
There is no cost to use the WIN center’s services, and the referral service does not conduct background checks nor drug testing; workplaces that require these are expected to handle it themselves.
The city of Starkville recently submitted 10 job orders to the WIN center, and City Human Resources Director Navarrete Ashford said that seems to be working out well — with interviews for eight of those openings scheduled this week.
The WIN center, as always, works hard to help people find work, and to help employers find workers – and THAT’S Good for Business!
Here are some highlights:
Commodore Bob’s in Starkville does a thriving business dishing up fantastic grub at lunch and dinner, as well as a Sunday brunch for all comers. They serve plenty of locals, students, and tourists, so you’d better get there early or you might not find a seat! They and other restaurants help to keep Starkville fed and happy, and that’s Good for Business!
Teenage residents of Columbus’ Palmer Home for Children have been helping fans on MSU game day to find parking at Cadence Bank, right across the street from The Mill. The teens collect the $20 parking fees – all of which goes to the Palmer Home locations in Columbus and Hernando, as well as a partner location in Tennessee. In addition to helping them to raise much-needed funding, it also raises awareness of the fact that the children’s homes even exist. The local Palmer Home provides a home, food, clothing, and education for about 112 local children who might not otherwise have had ready access to any of those things.
Roughly a hundred MSU student volunteers recently joined forces to pack and ship five thousand meals to be sent out to hungry families in Mississippi and beyond, as part of a project to help raise awareness of food insecurity.The Oxfam Hunger Banquet model was used for their pre-work meal, where students were divided up into several groups meant to proportionally represent various “income levels” and what families at those levels might find themselves eating. The smallest group by far – those randomly chosen as the “high income” group, sat down at the tables for a multi-course meal with real plates and silverware; the largest two groups – the “low income” ones, sat on the floor with paper plates, plastic forks, a mound of mashed potatoes – and precious little else. Students reportedly ate relatively little, many of them never having previously known just how bad many families in need really have it.