Workforce development starts early in Hancock County
February 2, 2016
Hancock County has a robust workforce development program which begins guiding students at the sixth grade level. Career pathways are used to steer students toward programs that match their skills and preferred working methods and lifestyles.
Long before they graduate they are on a defined career pathway with instruction that gives them an early start. Pathways include a large number of alternatives to careers that require four-year degrees, and that steer students toward degrees and certifications that support our local industries. This includes applied polymer science, welding, machining, construction/carpentry, automotive, drafting and design, metal fabrication and manufacturing fundamentals.
Students at the Hancock County Career and Technical Center who maintain their grades are able to receive free tuition at the community college level in this 2 + 2 program, which serves Bay High and Pass Christian High, as well as the Hancock County students.
Local industries find that the curriculums are comprehensive enough to hire students straight out of the training programs. Examples are DAK Americas, SABIC Innovative Plastics and Jindal Tubular who hire students from Pearl River Community College (PRCC) welding and instrumentation programs and the Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College process technology program, and consider them a sound alternative to on-the-job experience.
State funding for training for incumbent workers funnels a portion of unemployment tax dollars back to the industries in the form of industry class room and on-the -job training, the majority of which is provided at no or low cost to local companies. If the community college can’t supply instructors from their own faculties, they will work with industries to locate instructors for customized, industry-specific training to match the company’s needs. The program known as the WET Fund (Workforce Enhancement Training Fund) also provides vendor training and train-the-trainer programs.
To be sure that all companies can access this training conveniently, the Hancock County Port and Harbor Commission (HCPHC) provides a consortium training program that allows industries to share redundant classroom training, which reduces the number of workers who are away from the job at one time. This consortium training program which is a seamless partnership between the industries, PRCC and HCPHC has provided over 1,300 classroom hours of training at Port Bienville Industrial Park alone over the past five years.
Hancock County is a community that is proud of its industries and proud to support them and see them grow. As can be seen in the following testimonials, industries and their individual workers demonstrate Hancock County’s established, successful and continuous programs that prepare a strong workforce to meets industry expectations for excellence and ongoing support.