Tag Archive for: #kerrtarcouncilofgovernements

Kerr Tar Workforce and NCWorks

TownTalk: Workforce Wednesdays To Connect Employers With Prospective Employees

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Whether you’re looking for a career change or that first job after high school or college, the local NCWorks Career Center may have just what you need to set off on the path of employment.

The latest program offering, Workforce Wednesdays, is a time when people in search of a job can come in for help with developing or updating resumes and actually talk to an employer who’s looking to fill positions.

“It’s booming right now,” said Sherita Ohno, business services representative with NCWorks Career Center, located at 826 S. Garnett St.

This week’s Workforce Wednesday guest employer is Pallet One from Granville County, Ohno told WIZS co-host Bill Harris on Monday’s TownTalk.

“We want to be involved,” Ohno said, “and give employers (that) onsite advantage…and pick up some of that traffic that’s coming into the Career Center.”

Desiree Brooks, business services manager of the KTCOG Workforce Development board, said there are plenty of people who are actively looking for work, and the NCWorks Career Center serves as a hub to connect job seekers with employers.

They are working closely with young people – especially students – “to educate them early and promote career awareness so they know what’s available” in terms of jobs and careers.

One way they do that is with technology – specifically virtual reality.

Through the use of VR equipment, individuals can experience what it’s like to work at particular jobs.

Using VR goggles and a handheld joystick, participants can enter a simulated workplace to get the feel of what different careers or jobs may look, sound and feel like.

“Young people love technology, Brooks said. “We’re meeting them where they are…you are on that worksite – it is so real.”

Ohno and Brooks have tried out the VR experience. “I thought I had left and gone somewhere,” Ohno said.

One recent event that featured a single employer brought out about 80 people who were interested in jobs.

“People are out there and they DO want to work,” Brooks said. “And we want to help them.”

Employers are struggling to get workers and to retain employees, and Brooks said that either workers or businesses that use the services of the NCWorks Career Center get support and resources that improve retention rates.

Career advisors can guide job seekers through the process of creating a resume that reflects their skillsets and help match those skillsets with jobs in the area. Training opportunities are available as well.

Call 252.598.5200 to make an appointment or just drop by the center to learn more about services and programs.

The NCWorks Career Center in Henderson serves the KTCOG five-county region that includes Vance, Granville, Warren, Franklin and Person counties. KTCOG offers programs and services in all five counties. Visit https://www.ncworks.gov/vosnet/Default.aspx to learn more.

CLICK PLAY

 

Kerr Tar Regional Council of Governments

TownTalk: KerrTar COG Loan Program Helps Small Business

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The Kerr-Tar Region Council of Government’s “Open for Business” loan program continues to disperse money to small- and medium-sized businesses in its five-county area and Director Diane Cox said there’s still time to apply.

The Kerr-Tar COG received $1.1 million as part of the federal government’s effort to help businesses weather the COVID-19 storm. To date, a dozen small businesses across Vance, Granville, Franklin, Warren and Person counties have benefited from the program, Cox told John C. Rose on Thursday’s Town Talk. She said about $605,000 has been distributed, and if the rest isn’t used before the end of June 2022, it reverts back to the federal coffers.

She’d rather have the money be used locally to assist businesses as the economy continues to open up as pandemic restrictions loosen.

Anyone who owns a business with fewer than 100 employees is eligible to apply for the loan, which originally was designed to help companies that had seen a decline in revenue as a result of the pandemic. In addition, the loan criteria were made more flexible to make for easier access by small businesses. The local COG board decided to make the loans zero-interest loans, she said, which makes them even more appealing. There is flexibility in payback periods, she said, as well as other criteria that are required for regular loan programs such as providing proof that the business wouldn’t qualify for a conventional bank loan.

“We rolled the program out in the fall and had lots of requests,” Cox said, but then they hit a lull. Now the program is kicked off again and she said she hopes more applications come in.

She said, so far, approved applicants include restaurants, a transportation-related business, a small fitness center and an office supply organization.

“Most have been small businesses,” Cox said, from sole proprietors to companies with as many as 35 employees. “We’ve not seen the requests coming in from the 75-99 employee range,” she said, adding that the agency has been able to serve the businesses they were hoping would request the loans – and have helped keep the doors open and the economy moving along.

“We know that the reason our economy is thriving is because of our small businesses,” Cox noted. Small business is what keeps downtowns healthy and the Kerr-Tar COG wants to continue to focus on programs like the Open for Business loan program to help small businesses.

A committee made up of banking professionals and others involved in business and economic development meets to review and recommend application for approval by the executive committee, which has final approval for all loans.

Apply online at kerrtarcog.org and attach additional required documents to submit online. Cox said applicants can request to receive a copy of the application via email or by U.S. Postal Service. Call the office at 252.436.2040 to learn more. Cox or finance assistant Katie Conner can help answer questions.

 

 

Kerr Tar Regional Council of Governments

Safe Routes Program Encourages Biking And Walking To School

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There may be a couple of bike racks outside some school buildings in the area, but gone are the days that students’ bicycles fill those racks during the day while children are in class. The familiar crosswalks still function, but they are more for students getting out of cars than for those who have walked from their nearby homes.

Kisha High recognizes that rural areas and small towns may face challenges when they encourage children to walk or bike to school, but the Safe Routes to School program does more than just promote those practices.

High is the Safe Route to Schools program coordinator for the Kerr-Tar COG. She spoke with WIZS News about all the ways her program can have positive impacts on schoolchildren – on or off school campuses.

“The name can be misleading,” High said. “It’s not just about school – you’re a pedestrian when you’re in the parking lot at the grocery store.” By sharing information about safety practices when people are in areas where there also are vehicles, High said the program can improve overall safety and health.

The program is funded by federal and state departments of transportation. It’s a non-infrastructure grant, so her efforts are largely aimed at outreach. Whether it’s a Back To School event or a walking competition within a particular school, she’s willing and ready to participate or help organize.

She will be at the Back to School Bash in Oxford tomorrow, for example, raising awareness about how important it is to be healthy and how important it is to be safe.

Although the program’s mission is to promote walking and biking to schools, she added the words “where possible” to take into account that there aren’t many sidewalks in rural communities and schools are in more centralized locations.

But children may still walk to bus stops, for example, and it’s important for them to understand safety rules, she said.

Friendly competitions are one way to promote walking as a way for children to exercise. High said students at West Oxford Elementary in Granville County used pedometers last spring to track their steps. They calculated their mileage in a “Walking to Tokyo” race in advance of the Olympics.

Whether walking to school, in the store parking lot, or the neighborhood, safety should be top of mind, High said.

“We’re all pedestrians at some point during the day,” she added.

For more details, listen below.

Hollander Virtual Hiring Event January 19th

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WIZS has been asked to announce, by the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Governments’ Workforce Development Board, Hollander Sleep Products is holding a virtual hiring event.

It will take place Tuesday, January 19 at 11 a.m.

Visit the Weebly events page to register.  (https://ncworkskt.weebly.com)

You can join for this hiring event with Hollander Sleep Products to find out about their current openings and how to apply.

Email joseph.jung@ncoworks.gov or lonnda.brothers@ncworks.gov.

The NCWorks Career Center can be reach by phone at 919-693-2686.

(This is not a paid ad or sponsorship.)

Granville County Logo

Granville Co. Board of Commissioners to Attend Regional Broadband Presentation

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-Information courtesy Debra A. Weary, Clerk to the Board, County of Granville

PUBLIC NOTICE

A quorum of the Granville County Board of Commissioners may be present on Thursday, November 29, 2018, for a presentation on regional broadband hosted by Kerr-Tar Council of Government. The presentation will begin at 5 p.m. at the Kerr-Tar Regional Council of Government’s Administrative Offices, 1724 Graham Avenue, Henderson.

For more information, please contact the County Manager’s Office at 919-693-5240.