DOE stimulus money arrives in Oak Ridge TN

OAK RIDGE – Three weeks after the Department of Energy announced that Oak Ridge would receive $755 million in stimulus money for shovel-ready environmental cleanup projects, the money has finally arrived – at least the first allotment.

“We have received $604 million,” DOE spokesman John Shewairy said Wednesday.

That’s 80 percent of the total money that’s targeted for Oak Ridge projects. DOE earlier said that 20 percent would be held back in Washington and distributed later, based on each site’s progress and efficiency in conducting the stimulus-funded work.

All told, DOE received $6 billion for environmental cleanup activities under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which is supposed to create jobs and jump-start the economy during these difficult times.

Shewairy said the Oak Ridge contractors can now proceed with their planned work, which includes the cleanup and dismantling of old buildings at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Y-12 National Security Complex.

Full Story Here: KnoxNews.com

8 Great Ways to Land Your Dream Job

Even as jobs become harder to find, too many job-seekers rely on a tunnel-vision strategy that makes use of only one or two job-search methods. That strategy may eventually land you a job, but it’s likely you’ll spend more time being frustrated than interviewed.

So should you rely on job fairs, Internet job boards or social media for employment leads? The answer for most successful job-seekers is all of the above and then some.

A multipronged approach makes the best use of your time and energy. Check out these eight ways that people search for jobs.

1. Internet job boards
Mainstream Internet job boards such as Monster.com and Careerbuilder.com were once the go-to resource for job-seekers.

Although these job boards have been around for about 15 years, they are quickly running out of steam, in part because there are fewer jobs to post and overwhelmed employers often take jobs offline after receiving thousands of resumes in a single day.

Monster.com advertises on its Web site that it has over 70 million personalized accounts. So if you’re not first in line once a company posts a job, it’s likely that your resume may turn into digital vapor, says Todd Bermont, author of “10 Insider Secrets to a Winning Job Search.”

“Maybe 5 (percent) to 10% of all people get jobs through a job board,” he says. “It’s not to say it’s a waste of time, but you don’t want that to be your sole job-seeking activity of the day.”

Bermont, whose job-hunting courses have been featured at the University of Chicago’s Graham School and at Loyola University, says employers often look at the first 100 or so resumes while the rest fall by the wayside.

Job-seekers may be more productive using industry-specific job boards. Job-hunt.org is a good resource for finding these Web sites.

Full Store Here: FoxBusiness.com

Tennessee colleges consider stimulus projects

Voluntary buyout plans, energy efficient buildings, and roofs that don’t leak when it rains — these are the items college administrators in Tennessee have in mind when it comes to spending an additional $312 million in federal and state stimulus funding this year and next.

The one big exception that schools can’t pay for with the extra money is new buildings.

That may be just as well. After receiving additional funding this year, and anticipating an extra $253.3 million in stimulus funds for 2010-2011, Tennessee’s higher education system must brace for a $180 million funding cut.

The money-saving measures being considered now will be key to schools winning state and federal approval for their proposed budgets, which must be submitted in the coming weeks.

The state legislature must then pass the spending plans as part of the governor’s budget, and the federal government, in turn, must approve the state’s stimulus plans. So far, eight states, including California, Illinois and Mississippi, have received the stabilization funds that include money for higher education.

“It certainly is one of the more important projects not just for me, but for the university and the state,” said David Millhorn, UT executive vice president. “We have to make sure these short-term investments have long-term implications.”

Full Story Here: Tennesseean.com

Stormwater projects in Charlotte region get stimulus funds

Federal stimulus money will pay for a pair of Charlotte environmental projects that prevent flooding and clean storm water.

The city will use $2.2 million to create a 28-acre conservation area in the McAlpine Creek watershed. As part of that project, Charlotte’s Storm Water Services department will restore 7,373 linear feet of stream and 6.1 acres of wetland along Muddy Creek and Eastland Branch, tributaries to Campbell Creek, for the wildlife habitat.

In addition, the city will use $577,555 for a water-recycling project at Revolution Park off Barringer Drive. The city will build a 2-acre lake to capture and filter storm water that can be reused for irrigation.

The funds are part of $46 million in federal stimulus money for 36 communities across North Carolina, including Hickory, Gastonia, Conover and Troutman.

The administration of Gov. Bev Perdue says the projects are being funded from the first round of federal stimulus dollars coming into the state’s Department of Environment & Natural Resources.

The U.S. Congress approved the $787 billion stimulus program early this year to help prime the sagging economy.

Among the other projects in the Charlotte region:

•Hickory will receive $1.9 million to replace a sewer system;

•Gastonia will receive $308,532 for the replacement of a sewer line;

•Conover will get more than $1.7 million for a sewer-system project; and

•Troutman will receive $237,595 for sewer pipe, manhole and pump-station modifications.

Source: Charlotte BizJournal.com

Outlook is mixed for bank-related jobs in Charlotte

February was brutal for bank workers as the Charlotte area shed 2,900 finance and insurance jobs – a loss nearly triple the size of any suffered before. But preliminary data for March indicates a calm, with finance jobs in the region essentially flat.

That stark contrast, along with interviews with more than a dozen industry experts, suggest the future of “banktown” jobs lies somewhere between wholesale slaughter and a sudden rebound. For the rest of this year at least, the area will continue to lose finance jobs, the bank watchers say. The addition of some smaller finance employers – including New York-based Sagent Advisors, which announced Tuesday its opening of a Charlotte office – won’t come near to making up for those losses.

But in the long run, the industry players say, financial companies will recover and Charlotte will continue to attract more of them, thanks to attributes that have worked in its favor before, such as a skilled work force and a low cost of living.

“Is Charlotte going to be the pillar of strength that it was a few years ago? In the near term, no,” said Gerard Cassidy, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets. “ … Anyone who thinks Charlotte is going to turn around at the end of the year is being too optimistic.”

Bank of America is partly responsible for February’s big drop, as it is slashing jobs to deal with the weak economy and its purchase of Merrill Lynch. When Bank of America released earnings Monday, it said it has about 285,000 employees companywide – a drop of about 17,000 since Dec. 31. The Charlotte bank won’t detail where those job cuts were made, though about 2,000 of them were Merrill Lynch financial advisers.

Full Story: CharlotteObserver.com

S.C. unemployment rate hits 11.4%

South Carolina’s unemployment rate reached 11.4 percent in March, the highest rate since January 1983.

The figure was higher than the revised February rate of 10.9 percent, according to the S.C. Employment Security Commission.

In March, the state’s labor force dropped slightly to 2,185,451, while the number of unemployed jumped 10,221 to reach a record high of 248,578.

Chester County saw its unemployment rate fall slightly to 20.6 percent from 20.7 percent in February.

Lancaster County had an unemployment rate of 18 percent last month, down from 18.3 percent in February.

And York County had a 12.7 percent jobless rate, down from 14.2 percent in February.

The national unemployment rate rose in March to 8.5 percent, up from 8.1 percent in February.

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

PPG to cut 90 jobs

PPG Industries FiberGlass Products Inc. plans to cut 90 jobs on May 1, a company spokesman confirms.

The company cites the weak economy and reduced demand for fiberglass.

Fifteen workers have taken an early retirement offer and 75 will be laid off, says Jeremy Neuhart, spokesman for parent company PPG Industries Inc.

Those 75 have one-year recall rights.

In November, the company announced plans to invest $20.5 million to expand its Shelby facility and add 120 jobs over the next three years.

PPG Industries FiberGlass said it planned to increase production of fiberglass to meet growing demand for wind turbines, which have blades made of resin-coated fiberglass.

Those plans have been put on hold. “We’ll wait to see when demand comes back,” Neuhart says.

Pennsylvania-based PPG Industries (NYSE:PPG), which operates two fiberglass production facilities in Shelby and Lexington, and an industrial paint facility in Greensboro

Source: Charlotte Business Journal

Stimulus money makes summer jobs available for teens

It’s usually around this time of year when young people start thinking about a summer job.

Thanks to one million dollars in stimulus money, jobs are available.

“The young people who get these jobs probably won’t have any other options available to them other than these jobs,” explains Vaughn Smith, director of Workforce Connections.

Kids age 14 to 18 will have the opportunity to land one of the jobs through Workforce Connections. They will work 30 hours a week at minimum wage.

Applications will be accepted beginning in May. Work will start June 1 and continue for approximately eight weeks.

“The eligibility criteria requires the family to have an income that’s below the poverty guidelines, and so we’ll have a process and they will come apply, and we will determine who is eligible,” adds Smith. “I think there will be a job for every eligible youngster who applies to us this summer.”

The positions will be at public and private non-profit agencies in Knox County and throughout Knoxville, including parks and recreation departments.

There will also be jobs available at the UT Campus.

“We expect to have people doing clerical work, answering phones, working at the libraries, that sort of thing,” explains Smith.

More jobs are being sought from non-profit groups to provide for the young people.

If you can help out or if you’d like more information on how your child can take part, you can call (865) 544-5200.

Similar programs are also being setup across East Tennessee.

The county received $ 1million of stimulus money for the summer jobs money.

The county received another $1.5 million that will go towards helping unemployed adults further their education.

If you’re interested in that service you can visit the Tennessee Career Center on University Avenue in Knoxville.

Source: WATE

March unemployment rate reaches 9.6% in Tennessee

Tennessee labor officials say the state’s unemployment rate for March was 9.6%, up 0.6% percentage point from the February rate.

The March rate a year ago was 5.7%. The national unemployment rate for March was 8.5%, up from the February rate of 8.1%.

State Labor Commissioner James Neeley said in a released statement the unemployment rate continues on an “upward trend and economists predict Tennessee will face difficult months ahead.”

However, for the first time in several months, the state saw increases in retail trade and leisure and hospitality employment, which Neeley said were encouraging signs.

Source: WATE

GM Spring Hill braced for white-collar job cuts

Some white-collar employees at the General Motors Corp. plant in Spring Hill will likely be among 1,600 U.S. salaried workers the automaker is laying off in the next few days.

Plant spokeswoman Kate Neary said Monday “there will be some” layoffs among the 394 salaried employees at Spring Hill but she has not been told how many.

Neary said all GM plants “are impacted in some form or fashion” by the layoffs.

GM is living on $13.4 billion in government loans and faces a June 1 deadline to cut costs.

The Spring Hill plant has a total of 3,200 employees building the Chevrolet Traverse crossover utility vehicle and four-cylinder engines for other GM vehicles.

Source: WATE