Six employment centers open in Wake, Johnston

Raleigh, N.C. — The Capital Area Workforce Development Board cut the ribbon to open six new centers to help job seekers in Wake and Johnston counties Thursday.

Counselors said the centers are vital, given the number of workers who joined the ranks of the unemployed in the past six months. In May, unemployment in North Carolina hit 11.1 percent, an all-time high.

There were balloons in the air and cake on the tables, but no takers at the Hope Center at Pullen on Hillsborough Street in Raleigh.

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Job centers open in Wake, Johnston

"We do not have our first customer yet, but we have all confidence that that will change," Director Porter Bell said.

The SHARE (Sharing How Access to Resources Empowers) Network Access Points are targeted at employment seekers who lack job search skills. Volunteers help job seekers use the JobLink system and other Web sites, prepare resumes, get references and other skills.

The new SHARE centers are at:

• Celebration Community Church, 314 Bashford Road, Raleigh
• The Hope Center at Pullen, Inc., 1801 Hillsborough St., Raleigh
• Urban Ministries of Wake County, 1390 Capital Boulevard, Raleigh
• Johnston County Industries, 1100 E. Preston St., Selma
• Kenly Church of God Worship Center, 9073 St. Mary’s Church Road, Kenly
• Mitchener Memorial Baptist Church, 911 Blount St., Smithfield

Capital Area Workforce Development Board first opened five SHARE centers in June 2008.

SHARE center locations

View SHARE job centers in a larger map

At Urban Ministries on Capital Boulevard, Aaron Finley expects existing clients will find the new services helpful. "We'll be providing a one-stop-shop," he said. "We'll have clients who are here for other things who we'll identify that they're either under- or unemployed who can then look for employment through the JobLink center while they're here."

The centers provide access to the same computer programs offered by offices of the Employment Security Commission, with one key difference -- shorter lines.

Though few takers lined up Thursday at the new centers, volunteers at existing centers said, as word spread, business could be expected to pick up.

The U.S. Department of Labor supplied the funding for the centers.