‘It’s gonna be tough’: Funding cuts impacting Job Corps center in Bamberg
BAMBERG COUNTY, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - We have an update to a story we first brought you on live at 5 yesterday.
Job Corps is closing down centers across the U.S., including the one in Bamberg.
The program allows teenagers to earn a high school diploma while getting hands-on training for jobs.
We went around Bamberg on Wednesday and spoke to many people who said they were sad to hear that the resources at the Job Corps Center were being paused, saying it could be a significant loss for their small community.
We spoke to someone who used to work at the Job Corps center.
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He said it was a great program that offered opportunities in fields like auto maintenance, cement, nursing, culinary arts, business and more which offered resources to people across the state and made an impact on the community - in more ways than just one.
“It was a great impact to the county and probably gonna be a great hurt to the county now,” Thomas Thomas, lives in Bamberg.
“We are a small-sized county here, maybe 14,000 at the most, so that’s gonna impact us large. It’s gonna be tough, it’s gonna be tough,” said Thomas.
The center has been making a difference for years.
However, now they are packing their bags and hoping something will change.
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“To prepare them for the workforce, and it’s gonna be a big loss for the community,” said Thomas.
“I worked at Job Corps roughly 18 years ago, and my experience was totally phenomenal there. I think it’s a great program,” said Thomas.
The U.S. Department of Labor said the pause on the centers is due to financial issues and budget cuts.
Locals say they hope another resource like Job Corps could come to the area in the future
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