Neb. Labor Department will close 4 career centers

What? This is nuts! We need the workforce in Falls City! She is great at her job and so helpful. What a sad deal.

OMG so whats next on the chopping block?

mrs beans is great, but is that other bit#$ still there

OMG wrote:

OMG so whats next on the chopping block?

Heard maybe health and Human services, everything is going to be computerised. I guess they think the poor and indagent can file for aid on their computer. Lincoln Journal says 250 people across Ne will lose their jobs at Health and Human services.

Thats is part of life in a recession. Be thankful your family is still being emplyeed at WASP, Woodings and the railroad. It won't be long until expenses hit these places and these guys will be laid off. I am saying this will happen in one of these 3 areas hopefully not all but no one is safe right now.

What about Airlanco, Ames, Herzog and anything else hell it could happen to Cooper or at Caseys! Your right no one is safe but as long as production is still running and the need is there we will still have jobs. Actually factory work is the best to be in right now if your in the right area.

Tell Me More wrote:

Thats is part of life in a recession. Be thankful your family is still being emplyeed at WASP, Woodings and the railroad. It won't be long until expenses hit these places and these guys will be laid off. I am saying this will happen in one of these 3 areas hopefully not all but no one is safe right now.

Seems the state is trying to save some money. Isn't that what so many people complain about? Being "taxed to death"?

What wrote:

What about Airlanco, Ames, Herzog and anything else hell it could happen to Cooper or at Caseys! Your right no one is safe but as long as production is still running and the need is there we will still have jobs. Actually factory work is the best to be in right now if your in the right area.
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tsci is always hiring.

easy work, decent benefits, and pretty good wages. sure it has got BS, but what job doesnt. thanks to the losers, which richardson county proudly supports, we will always have prisons. job security.

State closing Kearney, Holdrege career centers
By: TODD GOTTULA , Hub Staff Writer

KEARNEY - Stan Zimbelman couldn't believe it.
When told Thursday that the Kearney Career Center he manages is among four in the state being closed by the Nebraska Department of Labor, he was shocked.

"This came out of nowhere," said the longtime employment services manager. "We knew there were some budget issues at the top, at the state level, but there was no advance notice at all that our Kearney office was going to be shut down."

Career centers in Kearney and Holdrege are among four in the state that the Department of Labor is closing on Nov. 6

In a surprise announcement, the state said it is closing the Nebraska Workforce Development centers and will save about $580,000 by eliminating 12 jobs. Facilities in Chadron and Falls City also are targeted for closure.
Five jobs are being lost in Kearney, but three of those employees have been offered the chance to transfer to the Grand Island Career Center, Zimbelman said.
Zimbelman, who has been with the agency for 19 years, was not asked to stay.

"A lot of us are grieving and trying to deal with it," he said. "I am very frustrated, angry and surprised that Kearney was singled out and chosen over other offices to shut down. Kearney is a busy office in a vibrant community.

"We've hit our goals consistently, so it should have nothing to do with performance," Zimbelman said. "Unfortunately, no explanation has been given."

Labor Commissioner Catherine Lang says federal money pays for about 98 percent of Nebraska Workforce Development's budget. She says the cuts will reduce costs enough so that federal money will cover all of Workforce Development's expenses.

Although four career centers are closing, 17 centers will remain open across the state, and the Labor Department offers several services online.

The Kearney Career Center at 124 W. 46th St. serves Buffalo, Kearney and Franklin counties. It served 4,255 people in 2007 and posted 1,532 job openings, Zimbelman told the Hub in a February story.

The Kearney office helps job seekers by offering training programs, providing information on career choices, helping prepare resumes and job applications, giving job interview tips and assisting with job searches.

The career center also offers re-employment services and helps people transfer job skills they have to a new field.

In addition to working with job seekers, the Kearney Career Center offers many services to employers. It provides market information to companies and helps them with job postings, employee screenings and testing, interviewing and background checks.

When a large employer lays off workers, career center personnel often show up at the job site and let workers know what's available to them.

Kearney officials to meet with labor leader about Career Center closure
By TODD GOTTULA , Hub Staff Writer
KEARNEY — Mayor Stan Clouse and other officials in Kearney and Buffalo County plan to meet with Nebraska’s labor commissioner this week to discuss the future of the Kearney Career Center that is planned to close Nov. 6.
“We were shocked at the announced closure of the Workforce Development office in Kearney,” Clouse said in a press release.“We understand the critical need of the state with regard to resolving the Department of Labor fiscal issue. However, with the economic job-related issues hitting our area recently, the timing could not be worse.”
In a surprise announcement Thursday, the state said it is closing four Nebraska Workforce Development centers and will save about $580,000 by eliminating 12 jobs. Facilities in Holdrege, Chadron and Falls City also are targeted.
Following the announcement, the Kearney Area Chamber of Commerce, Buffalo County Economic Development Council and other city and county officials met to craft a business and political response.
“As with any major issue, it is important to develop working relationships between state and local entities in an effort to find creative solutions to problems such as this,” Clouse said.
Labor Commissioner Catherine Lang says federal money pays for about 98 percent of Nebraska Workforce Development’s budget. She says the cuts will reduce costs enough so that federal money will cover all of Workforce Development’s expenses.
“The current fiscal problem needs to be rectified, but we also need to work closely with Commissioner Lang to look forward to the future and develop strategies that meet the needs of our employers and workforce while being fiscally responsible,” Clouse said.
Area officials noted that Kearney’s Workforce Development office recently played a key role in helping more than 200 people find jobs when the former Powermate Corp. plant closed.
The Kearney office also is needed, officials say, to handle past and planned layoffs at other Buffalo County employers. The Nebraska Turkey Growers recently announced plans to close its processing plant in Gibbon, which will cost more than 200 workers their jobs.
First National Bank of Omaha is closing its Kearney call center that employs 89 people, and Eaton Corp. has laid off about 157 workers at its Kearney manufacturing plant this year, although some Eaton layoffs were temporary and some employees have since been rehired.
“While the overall economy in the county seems to be holding up to these winds of change because of the economic diversity in the county, it is anticipated it will take a while for the community to come back from these events,” Clouse said.“Affected employees need the assistance of a labor placement office.”
The Kearney Career Center at 124 W. 46th St. serves Buffalo, Kearney and Franklin counties. It served 4,255 people in 2007 and posted 1,532 job openings.
“At a time when Nebraska is enjoying unprecedented surplus tax revenues, it is ironic Workforce Development is closing offices,” The Development Council said in its press release.
Since 2003, the Department of Labor has misapplied federal grant dollars, and the federal government is requiring the agency to repay over $4 million, the press release noted. That shortfall is driving the decision to close offices and reduce staff, said the press release.

What wrote:

What? This is nuts! We need the workforce in Falls City! She is great at her job and so helpful. What a sad deal.

Sorry but I find it funny that bug eyes (mrs Cromer) is getting the axe. All I've ever heard her do is run people down. Hey gal smile once in awhile.

She probably won't end up losing her job. Carol is retiring and they are now in negotiations with the state and Edge to combine Edge, Workforce and the Chamber and have Edge pay their (Workforce) rent to save money and help Cromer keep her job. It is never funny when someone loses their job no matter who they are.

food service personnel wrote:

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Sorry but I find it funny that bug eyes (mrs Cromer) is getting the axe. All I've ever heard her do is run people down. Hey gal smile once in awhile.

She has a tendency to belittle the one out of a job too.