WorkPlace 'excited' about being in new location

Staff members at the WorkPlace, One-Stop Career Center, were showing off their new digs Wednesday night.

The center, which is Jefferson County's displaced employment and training office, opened new offices in the former Redwood National Bank, 1000 Coffeen St., on Sept. 28. Before then, it was in the modular building on the campus of Jefferson Community College.

Cheryl A. Mayforth, Jefferson-Lewis Workforce Investment Board director, told a small crowd of local and state officials, "We're excited because we get to reinvent ourselves. That is the most fun part of getting evicted."

She and other staff members showed off the layout of the new center, which has a computer and library resource room, several conference rooms and offices for several programs.

"It's almost as though the building were built for us," she said after the ceremony. "It is amazing how everybody just fit in."

Bruce G. Herman, deputy commissioner at the state Department of Labor for work force development, said the new center stood out among the 80 other One-Stop centers in the state.

"It's such an inviting facility," he said. "And it has quality staff to help clients find their way through such difficult, difficult times."

County Administrator Robert F. Hagemann praised the staff for what it had accomplished in a short time in the new building.

"I can't think of a better building to go into than this because it's uplifting," Mr. Hagemann III said. "With the assistance of the state and local community, this can help us get in a position to prepare people for an economic recovery."

The county signed a three-year, $321,840 contract in August to lease the 8,940-square-foot building from Watertown Savings Bank. The county Department of Employment and Training, state Department of Labor, Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities, Job Corps and Department of Social Services Pathways program now inhabit the space.

There are still signs that the office is not completely settled — paper signs are taped by office doors and a banner hangs over the Redwood Bank sign. The banner proclaims, "Investing in our Future ... Our Workforce."

On Oct. 21, the WorkPlace held an open house for the public with seminars at regular intervals. Mrs. Mayforth said this will be a monthly program.

"That's going to continue," she said. "We have a lot of ideas we're going to launch."

She said the new location already has increased the number of visits the center has had. And she expects them to top the 12,000 services provided in 2009.

"The biggest change is people come in here dressed differently; they're ready to go to work," she said. "People know to go to One-Stop, so here it looks like the community has something to offer."