Career center resets its sites

LYNN – The Career Center on Union Street will be closing at the end of the month to consolidate operations in Salem. But the managing organization said services will continue to be offered in the city, and the money saved will fund increased training opportunities.”We’re not leaving Lynn; we are definitely committed to providing services to Lynn,” Workforce Investment Board (WIB) Executive Director Mary Sarris said Wednesday. The board is responsible for overseeing the career center.”The whole goal of this is to spend less money on infrastructure and have more money available to send people to go to retraining, because we know retraining is what gets people into new jobs.”WIB operates career center locations in Lynn, Salem, and Gloucester, providing resources for job seekers, including access to computers and Internet sites with job postings, resume assistance, workshops, skills assessment, interview sessions and more. The Lynn location has been at 181 Union St.But Sarris said a few changes in the delivery and availability of services have prompted the board to consolidate the Lynn and Salem locations into a single center on Washington Street in Salem, beginning in February.First, filing for unemployment and many unemployment resources are available online, Sarris said.Secondly, the federal government is dedicating fewer resources toward unemployment resources. Meanwhile, a recent study by the board found that training or retraining programs are most successful in leading to employment. Training programs are emphasized over physical infrastructure for a career services center. Particularly important for Greater Lynn residents are trainings or retrainings for medical professions, in advanced manufacturing, and in construction trades, Sarris said.So Sarris said two “access points” for services will be opening in the city: one at North Shore Community College and a second at the Family Success Center in the Blood Building on Wheeler Street, which is overseen by Lynn Housing Authority and Neighborhood Development.”We’re very, very grateful to both the housing authority and college with their foresight in allowing us to be with them,” Sarris said. “Customers will be able to get virtually all the same services in Lynn.”Several city officials interviewed said the city and WIB tried to find a new subsidized space for the career center, valuing the center’s services for Lynners.”We tried to find a spot in the city and just couldn’t find one,” Ward 6 Councilor Peter Capano said. “We’ve lost a good resource, an excellent resource, and most of constituents of the career center are from Lynn.”He said he was particularly concerned about unemployed residents who might not have a car to easily get to Salem.But he and City Council President Dan Cahill said they hoped the “access points” would provide necessary services for job seekers. And they hoped that more services and access points would be available in Lynn in the future.Sarris said additional access points were planned.”We think that this is a really positive move for job seekers everywhere,” Sarris said. “We’re seeing it as a really good thing for us and for job seekers across the North Shore.”