The unemployment rate in Haralson County is on the rise and is currently rivaling both the national and state rates based on information for the month of July “ the most recent information available from the Georgia Department of Labor.

According to the DOL, the unemployment rate for the Coosa Valley area rose to 6.5 percent in July, up from 6.1 percent in June.

The Coosa Valley area includes Bartow, Catoosa, Dade, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Paulding, Polk and Walker Counties and is seeing an unemployment rate for July that is higher than the state’s, which is 6.2 percent, as well as the national rate, currently at 5.7 percent. According to the Department of Labor, the state’s July rate “was the highest recorded since March of 1993.”

The Georgia Department of Labor’s Communication’s Office says that this translates into 902 unemployed Haralson County residents, up from 650 one year ago.

According to the DOL, the hardest hit employment areas in Haralson County are manufacturing, construction and financial activities and “the slump in the housing sector coupled with higher fuel costs have been the driving factors in the economic slow down.”

This mirrors closely what is happening state-wide.

“Preliminary unadjusted data show Georgia lost 46,600 payroll jobs from June to July, a decrease of 1.1 percent. The job losses came across-the-board in manufacturing, construction, trade and services,” the DOL said in a prepared statement.

However, help is still available to those in our area who suddenly find themselves unemployed.

The Department of Labor has career centers in both Carrollton and Cedartown, but employees from the Cedartown branch come to the Murphy building on the campus of West Central Technical College every Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. to offer career guidance to anyone stopping in at the One Stop Career Resource Center.

Rosalita Troutt, who works in the One Stop Career Resource Center as a representative of the Coosa Valley Regional Development Center, says the Center acts as a multi-agent resource for the community.

Troutt says her job is part of the Workforce Investment Act, a federally funded program that assists people who have been laid off and wish to go back to school and start all over again. However, Troutt says the center does more than that.

“We have West Central Tech, the Department of Labor, Vocational Rehabilitation, the Workforce Investment Act, DFCS, Right from the Start Medicade and the Haralson County Chamber of Commerce all coming to this building to help the community,” Troutt said.

Troutt says the center has been quite busy in recent months due to area manufacturing companies closing their doors or laying off employees.

“Textile sales have been hit hard. [... But] when plants are going to lay off workers, they send out a notice to the Department of Labor, and the DOL sends out a rapid response team to the plant,” Troutt said.

These rapid response teams help people rebuild their resumes and help them decide what direction to go in next.

“We want to get a person [out of] a hopeless state, because a lay off can be the best thing that ever happened to you,” Troutt said.

According to Troutt, the One Stop Career Resource Center doesn’t just help people find new jobs, it also helps people go back to school, enter the work study program and receive federal aid.

“We must make ourselves as competitive as possible [in today’s market], and the best way to do that is to get an education,” Troutt said.

Teresa Ginnity has been a nursing student at WCTC for a year. She’s a 40-year-old mother of three and says she has decided to go back to school through the WIA Work Study program until a more competitive selection of jobs reappears.

“I would not be in school if it weren’t for [Troutt’s] program, and I’m hangin’ in there,” Ginnity said.

According to Troutt, many of WCTC’s recent students are in a similar situation as Ginnity’s.

“A lot of folks who come through are in their 30s and 40s, and they think they’re never going to get another job,” Troutt said.

However, Ginnity says there is an advantage to being a non-traditional college student.

“At this age, you see what it is like in the real world, and you bring that experience back to school with you,” Ginnity said. “It’s a wonderful program and a blessing from God. I couldn’t afford to pay for [school] out of pocket.”

According to Troutt, with so many local entities and workforce boards participating in the center’s effort, anyone can find some kind of help, whether short-term or long-term, at the One Stop Career Resource Center.

For more information about the center, contact Troutt at rtroutt@westcentraltech.edu or stop by the Murphy building on WCTC’s Waco campus.