Rick Hundley was only a few months shy of his five-year anniversary at Mid-South Electronics when he and about 400 others lost their jobs when the Jackson County plant closed last year.

“I didn’t know what to think,” Hundley said. “I’ve got a wife and two kids, and all I could do was keep asking myself, ‘How in the world am I going to support them?’”

Hundley, 40, said he now considers the layoff “a blessing in disguise” because of the guidance and assistance he received through the JobSight workforce network that helped him transition into a new, good-paying career.

Thanks to coordinated efforts by the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP), JobSight, Daniel Boone Community Action Agency (Daniel Boone CAA), and Kentucky Adult Education, Hundley earned his GED and completed a computer training program that allowed him to be comfortable using computers for the first time in his life.

What’s more, Hundley also participated in a job fair organized by JobSight in July that drew nearly 200 people to Manchester seeking jobs with 14 top area employers.

Just weeks after submitting his application at that event, Hundley was hired by the Wal-Mart Distribution Center in London.

“I’ve always had to scrape by making $7 or $8 an hour, but now, I’m making more money than I’ve ever made in my life,” Hundley said. “I’m grateful for all the help I got, and I’m happy that I was able to turn a bad thing into something positive.”

Hundley is only one of numerous success stories that have taken rise following the closure of Mid-South thanks to collaborative training, job-placement, and tuition-assistance efforts led by the JobSight network. Most of those efforts were funded through the federal Trade Act, which provides assistance for workers whose jobs move to foreign countries.

EKCEP—a Hazard-based nonprofit agency—administers Trade Act services in 23 eastern Kentucky Counties. EKCEP also administers the JobSight network of workforce centers, which provide access to government workforce programs for job seekers and employers through a single location.

The JobSight network includes the Clay County JobSight operated by Daniel Boone CAA in Manchester. Daniel Boone CAA’s office in McKee is an Access Point in the JobSight network.

Of the 400 Mid-South employees who lost their jobs, approximately 195 turned to JobSight for assistance in obtaining computer and job-skills training, GED preparation, or funding to assist with college costs, according to Janie Hackney, One-Stop coordinator for EKCEP and the JobSight network.

Hackney said many people have benefited from JobSight’s career-exploration curriculum and on-site resume and job interview training. JobSight’s JobFit on-line job matching service also helped them discover and apply for jobs that best fit their skills and abilities.

“We’d do one-on-one interviews with each one of them along with the Kentucky Adult Education staff, and start by asking, “If you could do whatever you want to do now, what would that be,’” Hackney said.

“Instead of them just going straight back to work in minimum-wage jobs,” she added, “we try to help steer them toward a new career or good job that will allow them to be self-sufficient.”

Those who desired to train for a new career were enrolled in the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Dislocated Worker Program. The program provides workers who lost their jobs in layoffs tuition assistance and funding that covers college-related food and transportation costs. In Mid-South’s case, those costs are currently being covered by Trade Act funds.

To date, 164 of the former Mid-South employees who sought assistance from JobSight are enrolled in colleges or universities, such as Eastern Kentucky University and Hazard Community and Technical College.

Those people are training for any number of jobs, including: nursing, respiratory therapy, pharmacy technician, early childhood development, automotive technician, medical assistant, radiology technician, heating and air conditioning technician, dental assistant, and business management.

In addition, 25 people—like Rick Hundley—have already started working in new jobs. Four people have become certified dental assistants, and 26 others continue to participate in basic-skills training that will help lead them into new jobs.

“All of these numbers will, of course, change as people continue to enroll in training, or complete their training and re-enter the workforce,” Hackney said.

A total of 34 people, including Hundley, also took advantage of free basic computer workshops hosted by JobSight and Kentucky Adult Education. Four workshops were held in Clay and Jackson counties, each involving 120 hours of training in basic keyboarding skills and the operation of widely used e-mail, word processing, spreadsheet, and audio/visual presentation software.

“Since everything is ‘high-tech’ now, everybody has to learn how to use a computer to do almost any job,” Hackney said.

As was the case with the GED training and other JobSight programs, the computer classes were offered free of charge.

Like numerous other former Mid-South employees, Hundley said he gladly accepted the help JobSight has provided him.

“This all has meant a whole lot to me,” Hundley said. “I thought I had hit a dead end, but then (JobSight) came along, and I looked at it as a way for me to be able to succeed in life.”

That is what motivates JobSight to do what it does, Hackney said.

“JobSight prides itself with finding jobs for people, and people for jobs,” Hackney said. “Although this layoff was a grim event for many people, we’re helping those people position themselves to move forward and succeed in good jobs and great careers.”