MONROE - A compromise by the state Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to keep more job centers open still results in Monroe's job center being without state aid and staffing.
DWD Secretary Roberta Gassman announced Wednesday that DWD will keep two centers open in each of its 11 workforce development areas. The closest centers to Monroe with state resources will be in Fennimore, about 75 miles to the west and Janesville, about 40 miles to the east.
The Green County Job Service center, at Pleasant View Complex on Wisconsin 81 north of Monroe, no longer will have a DWD staff member on a regular basis. About 750 people registered to receive services at the job center in 2007.
Jeanie Blumer of Green County Human Services said county staff will continue to maintain the job center under its new name, "Career Connections."
Career Connections will offer the same services as the job center.
"County staff recognize through employment, we are able to raise families out of poverty," Blumer said in an article comment on the Times Web site. "County staff also feel it is simply the right thing to do in keeping the site open to the public, due to the tough economic times we're in."
Blumer couldn't be reached for further comment.
The DWD has 38 job centers. It first proposed in June to consolidate the centers into 12 regional hubs. The increase to 22 was "in recognition of community feedback and the need for employment services, and to ensure sufficient geographic coverage ...," Gassman said.
One local politician who expressed disfavor with DWD's plan for 12 job centers was Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center. He is thankful DWD decided to scale back the elimination of job centers, but said he believes DWD didn't do enough.
"I have to express a certain amount of satisfaction in the progress," Schultz said. "But DWD is missing the point by a country mile."
Schultz said the DWD's plan to consolidate job centers was supposed to be a collaborative effort. He said the first announcement of going from 38 to 12 centers was forced by Gassman.
Schultz said the most recent announcement was not that collaborative of an effort, either. He said it was a 10-minute phone call with local representatives that ended with Gassman declaring the new plan.
"Two times now Gassman has told us what we can have," Schultz said. "What I see is a little backpedaling on their part, and I'm grateful, but we're not working together and that's a bad harbinger for the future."
The 22 sites were selected based on population, workforce needs, available resources and efficiencies, including the availability of free or low-cost space.
Consolidations will occur as leases expire, with most achieved by the end of 2008.
In the past 20 years, funding for job centers and other job training and employment programs has been cut by 56 percent. The state laid off about 40 staff members last fall, because federal funding no longer could support Job Service and state Workforce Investment Act staff.
Wisconsin established 78 job centers in the 1980s, when funding was higher and technological advancements, like the Internet, were not available. The centers helped people access federally-funded employment and training programs.
DWD Secretary Roberta Gassman announced Wednesday that DWD will keep two centers open in each of its 11 workforce development areas. The closest centers to Monroe with state resources will be in Fennimore, about 75 miles to the west and Janesville, about 40 miles to the east.
The Green County Job Service center, at Pleasant View Complex on Wisconsin 81 north of Monroe, no longer will have a DWD staff member on a regular basis. About 750 people registered to receive services at the job center in 2007.
Jeanie Blumer of Green County Human Services said county staff will continue to maintain the job center under its new name, "Career Connections."
Career Connections will offer the same services as the job center.
"County staff recognize through employment, we are able to raise families out of poverty," Blumer said in an article comment on the Times Web site. "County staff also feel it is simply the right thing to do in keeping the site open to the public, due to the tough economic times we're in."
Blumer couldn't be reached for further comment.
The DWD has 38 job centers. It first proposed in June to consolidate the centers into 12 regional hubs. The increase to 22 was "in recognition of community feedback and the need for employment services, and to ensure sufficient geographic coverage ...," Gassman said.
One local politician who expressed disfavor with DWD's plan for 12 job centers was Sen. Dale Schultz, R-Richland Center. He is thankful DWD decided to scale back the elimination of job centers, but said he believes DWD didn't do enough.
"I have to express a certain amount of satisfaction in the progress," Schultz said. "But DWD is missing the point by a country mile."
Schultz said the DWD's plan to consolidate job centers was supposed to be a collaborative effort. He said the first announcement of going from 38 to 12 centers was forced by Gassman.
Schultz said the most recent announcement was not that collaborative of an effort, either. He said it was a 10-minute phone call with local representatives that ended with Gassman declaring the new plan.
"Two times now Gassman has told us what we can have," Schultz said. "What I see is a little backpedaling on their part, and I'm grateful, but we're not working together and that's a bad harbinger for the future."
The 22 sites were selected based on population, workforce needs, available resources and efficiencies, including the availability of free or low-cost space.
Consolidations will occur as leases expire, with most achieved by the end of 2008.
In the past 20 years, funding for job centers and other job training and employment programs has been cut by 56 percent. The state laid off about 40 staff members last fall, because federal funding no longer could support Job Service and state Workforce Investment Act staff.
Wisconsin established 78 job centers in the 1980s, when funding was higher and technological advancements, like the Internet, were not available. The centers helped people access federally-funded employment and training programs.