Janie Pogue of Draffenville joins other students in a computer lab in Rosenthal Hall (Photograph by Paducah Sun Photographer John Wright)

Marshall County resident Janie Pogue was in a scary situation.  The mother of two grown children, she and her husband were doing fine until the company she worked for was bought out and the new owners shutdown her store.
 
Pogue knew she needed education to find a new job, but she didn’t qualify for financial aid because of her family income and paying out of her pocket was financially out of the question. Fortunately for Pogue, she was able to get help to go back to school through the Workforce Investment Act (WIA).  “I’m not sure that I would have been able to attend college now if not for WIA,” said Pogue, who is now pursuing an associate’s degree in business administration from West Kentucky Community & Technical College in Paducah.  “I have wanted to go to college ever since I can remember, but my life choices led me down a different path. I’m on my way to a college degree now and am very proud of myself for doing so.”
 
A new initiative announced today by Gov. Steve Beshear and Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS) President Michael B. McCall will provide Kentuckians who have lost their jobs with workforce training in high-growth, high-wage fields.  
 
“The KCTCS Career Transitions program is a key ingredient in our efforts to transform the state’s economy during these challenging economic times,” said Gov. Beshear. “Kentucky’s two-year colleges are perfectly positioned to provide the workers with the skills and training they need to succeed in today’s marketplace.”
 
The KCTCS year-long initiative is being offered through its statewide system of 16 colleges and features a 50 percent tuition scholarship for up to six credit hours per term (spring, summer and fall) in open enrollment courses along with personalized assistance in navigating the college admissions process. Each KCTCS college will provide displaced Kentucky workers with a coordinator to acclimate them to the campus and its resources.
 
WKCTC will also provide a streamlined admissions process; assistance in filing for state and federal financial aid; and advising and training sessions that maximize the students’ opportunity for success and re-employment. Kentucky residents who have become unemployed and have filed for unemployment benefits since Oct. 1, 2008 are eligible for the program.

Larry Upshaw, an intern in Western Baptist Hospital’s information technology department, checks one of the Lionville wireless medication carts on the hospital’s fourth floor. (Photograph by Paducah Sun Photographer John Wright)

“We have offered a variety of services for displaced workers for many years,” said WKCTC President Barbara Veazey. “This new initiative really compliments what we provide and will make the process easier for those individuals who find themselves without a job and looking for help.”

Kentucky’s seasonally adjusted preliminary unemployment rate for January 2009 climbed to a 22-year high of 8.7 percent from December 2008’s revised 7.6 percent, according to the Office of Employment and Training (OET), an agency of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet. The January rate was the highest in Kentucky since the 8.9 percent jobless rate recorded in March 1987.

Larry Upshaw of Paducah was laid off as an outside salesman for an auto parts store in 2006 after working in sales for more than 20 years. He had some college credits under his belt, just not a degree.  “I enrolled at WKCTC with help from WIA, and they are helping retrain me so I can move up in the work force,” Upshaw said. “Remaining in Paducah is important to me and with WIA and WKCTC, it has worked well.”

For more information about assistance for displaced workers at WKCTC, contact Debbie Smith at 534-3479.