
The county voted to consolidate workforce and job training services at their meeting on Nov. 27. The county will now be the sole operator of services that are currently contracted out to Orchard View Schools, Whitehall District Schools (White Lake Communi
The Muskegon County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution at their meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 27, to consolidate workforce and job training services in the county.
The Ways and Means Committee met right before the full board meeting to discuss and approve the resolution before bringing it to the board.
The county will now be the sole operator of Workforce Investment Act’s Adults, Dislocated Worker, Youth, Trade, Employment Services and Jobs, Education and Training programs. These services are currently contracted out to Orchard View Schools, Whitehall District Schools (White Lake Area Community Education) and Goodwill Industries. Over the next seven months, the county will transition into its new role as operator and when the contracts are up on June 30, 2013, the county will then officially take over.
With the consolidation, 64 current jobs will be transitioned into 56 jobs by reclassifying two positions and three title changes.
The people currently in those positions will have the chance to re-apply, but the positions will also be open to others. There is no guarantee those currently employed will still be employed once the county takes over.
The funding for this transition will come from funding that was previously awarded to the outside contractors.
The savings of benefit cost and duplication of services is estimated to save $884,767 which will be put back into programming and provide needed services to the community.
The services will be housed in an office in the Terrace Plaza in downtown Muskegon. There is also a possibility that they will open a small office in the northern part of the county, and one in Oceana County. Currently, the Whitehall office is located in the school district’s Community Services Building, 541 Slocum Street.