Success Stories
Dakota Hassell, a 2021 Dyer County High School graduate and former participant of the Upward Bound program at Dyersburg State, was interested in math, science, and technology, but didn’t really have a specific career plan. Dakota enrolled at UT Martin for computer science and coding, but it wasn’t until he was placed in a paid internship at Tencom Services in Dyersburg through the Northwest TN Workforce Board/American Job Center’s Work Experience program that he realized he wanted to do more IT and hands-on work. As a result, he switched his major to Management of Information Systems with a minor in cyber security.
Special from Mid-Cumberland
Peggy Cook is a Career Advisor for Mid-Cumberland in the Dresden American Job Center. Peggy is one of the many employees whom actually used the America Job Center Services and would like to to share her experience.
My name is Peggy Cook. In 2013 I lost my job of 28 years due to my company closing. I was devastated. I was 80 years old but not ready to retire. I received unemployment for six months while searching for a job. At this age employment seemed impossible. Someone told me to go to the American Job Center in Dresden. I went to the center and was told about the Senior Community Service Employment Program. In June 2014, I started working atthe Dresden Center through the SCSEP as a receptionist.
When Christopher “Kelon” Johnson received a transportation stipend through the American Job Center in Humboldt in order to attend the TN College of Applied Technology in McKenzie, he was unemployed and supporting his young son, Jaxton. The stipend helped Johnson offset the costs of traveling to and from training five days per week.