LISBON Grant benefited job seekers, students

Students needing one class to graduate used the Internet to complete the course.
LISBON -- People found jobs, explored careers and graduated from high school in the past year because of a $500,000 grant to the Columbiana County Department of Job and Family Services.
Eileen Dray-Bardon, director of Job and Family Services, said the federal grant was administered through the Governor's Office on Appalachia. The money had to be used to provide technology to low- and moderate-income residents.
Doubling expectations
Computer laptops and software at the Columbiana County Career Center, job-training sites and low-income housing areas helped people learn computer skills. There were 152 people using that program, and 10 found jobs.
Another computer program uses aptitude tests to measure job skills and help people determine what type of job they would be best suited for. The response for that program was that about 750 people utilized that software, but the system isn't able to track how many become employed.
Dray-Bardon said 750 people was about double the expectation.
One part of the program that was not well utilized was training for employees about standards of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The theory is that workers are more employable if they can show on their resume that they've had the OSHA training, Dray-Bardon said.
The problem was that employers were reluctant to allow employees time away from work to attend the training sessions, she said. About 59 workers completed the training.
Students at risk of not graduating from high school because they lack enough credits can take a virtual course to complete the work. The grant funded 20 students, and 13 were able to graduate.