Local Career Center manager Anita Fulford said that there are several ways that the Alabama Career Center can help those who will be affected by Sitel’s closure in the spring.

“They can come to the main center in Enterprise or we have a satellite office on the campus at LBWCC in Andalusia,” she said.

The offices are open Monday through Thursday, from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

“They are only open in Andalusia next week Monday through Wednesday because the college is closing for the holidays,” Fulford said. “They will reopen on Jan. 3.”

The Enterprise office will remain open on regularly scheduled days.

“They will need to file for unemployment,” she said. “They can do that over the phone or over the computer.”

Fulford said anytime there is a major closure, the Montgomery office will come down and will be joined by her office to have a rapid response meeting, where there will be a lot of information given out such as filing for unemployment, getting COBRA insurance, insurance for children, and more.

“I don’t know yet if they have put those together yet or not,” she said.

Fulford said those who need help computers or a telephone to file for unemployment may come to the Enterprise office. There are computers at the Andalusia office.

Staff members are also trained to help locals build a resume and write a cover letter.

“We can also show them how to do job searches using the joblink database,” she said. “Online job applications can also be done here.”

Another potential benefit is that there may be some funding available for those who wish to train for a new occupation.

“It’s too late for January,” Fulford said. “They are considered dislocated workers because they lost their job through no fault of their own.”

Funding could be available for summer semester or for short-term training such as truck driving school or certified nursing assistants.

“As soon as they know they are going to be laid off, they need to make contact with us, especially if they want to get into training,” she said. “It normally takes two to three weeks to get everything in place.”

Michele Gerlach/Star-News