Jul 26, 2017 2 min read

The CareerLink center in downtown Waynesburg will soon have a new home at Greene Plaza in Franklin Township.

CareerLink, which has been in the Fort Jackson Building on High Street for more than 15 years, is expected to move to its new offices in September, said Ami Gatts, director of Southwest Corner Workforce Development Board.

“We’re very excited,” Gatts said. “It’s a very positive move for everybody.”

The new offices at Greene Plaza will provide the center with additional space and will be more easily accessible to clients, Gatts said.

In addition, the county, which owns the Fort Jackson Building, is expected to need CareerLink’s existing space as it addresses the needs of Children and Youth Services, county Commissioner Blair Zimmerman said.

The existing CareerLink office, which serves about 500 people each month, has limited space and limited parking.

“Parking has always been an issue,” Gatts said. “It really deters a lot of people from coming there or having workshops or offering other things there.”

Greene Plaza has ample parking, and the new location will have more floor space, she said.

“We’re going to be able to offer more things, because we’ll have more space,” she said. The center now, for instance, doesn’t have enough space for any additional partners – the companies and other agencies that use CareerLink offices to offer job training, education or other job-related services.

“We already have had a couple people who have approached us about being partners in the new space, so that’s a good thing,” Gatts said.

Zimmerman said the move will be a “win-win” for the county and CareerLink, and the county originally suggested it. “They really need parking,” he said, and (at the plaza) “it’s going to be easier for clients to come in and have parking available.”

The county, meanwhile, can use the additional space in Fort Jackson as it revamps its CYS program, Zimmerman said.

The county receives about $70,000 a year leasing the offices in Fort Jackson to CareerLink. If it does not use the space in Fort Jackson, however, chances are the county will have to spend additional money somewhere else to provide for CYS operations, Zimmerman said.

Gatts said a grand opening will be held when the new center is ready to open for business.