Clay Working To Improve Workforce

Filling in the gaps.

That’s what officials in Clay County are attempting to do when it comes to educating their workforce. Jayne Donaldson is the College Career and Technical Director for Clay County Schools.

“What we’re trying to do is bring in all the people to the table, including industry, the various stakeholders in the community, and higher education,” Donaldson said. “We’re trying to see where we can fill in the gaps and where the needs are, and how both education, industry and post-secondary education can all fill in those gaps.”

Donaldson said that these efforts are important to help rebuild Clay County’s economy.

“Clay County is one of the distressed areas of the state,” Donaldson said. “We don’t have a very trained workforce because a lot of our students that do get trained in something are leaving the area for jobs. So we don’t have a lot of jobs, but we don’t have a lot of trained workforce here either because they’ve had to leave for jobs elsewhere.”

Donaldson said one of the areas of focus is on training students in growing occupational fields.

“It would benefit us by looking at opportunities in our area and in our region that are growing and making sure that we are training our students in the classroom to fill those job vacancies that will be occurring, therefore strengthening our economy,” Donaldson said.

Donaldson said that despite having a number of initiatives already in place, such as a partnership with the Tennessee College of Applied Technology in Livingston, the schools are still looking for more ways to shore up the county’s workforce.

“We have just received a (Governor’s Investment in Vocational Education) Grant through the Tennessee Higher Education Commission to fund and grow a welding program that will be available on our campus,” Donaldson said.

Donaldson said that by filling in the educational gaps that exist in Clay County, it benefits everyone from business down to the students.