Function:

The Workforce Reuse Program was designed to coordinate training and re-employment assistance to workers at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant (PGDP). This assistance includes identifying: (1) the job skills that will be needed by industry in the future; (2) the job skills of the current workforce; and, (3) the training available to meet those needs.

Also included in this program is a database developed through a Workforce Skills Assessment Survey of the PGDP workforce and maintained by PACE Local 5-550 now Untied Steelworkers Local-550. The primary purpose of this database is to serve as a job referral mechanism for PGDP workers.

As there are no layoffs at the current time, nor Department of Energy funds allocated for workforce programs, this effort is being supported by the West Kentucky Workforce Investment Board and their Workforce Investment Act (WIA) programs.

WIA services are available to unemployed or underemployed adults, dislocated workers (those people who have lost jobs through no fault of their own), and youth. Eligibility is determined by WIA Workforce Specialists who are located at all three Purchase Area Career Centers in Paducah, Mayfield, and Murray. Services may include the following:

• Core Services include eligibility determination, skill assessments, labor market information, unemployment insurance, internet usage, and staff-assisted job search assistance and job referrals.
• Intensive Services include comprehensive and specialized assessments, group/individual counseling, career planning, intensive case management, out-of-area job search assistance, relocation assistance, and work experience or On-the-Job Training (OJT).
• Training Services include occupational skills training, workplace training, cooperative education programs, job readiness training, adult education/literacy, or traditional post-secondary training.

For more information about WIA services, you may contact WKWIB staff at the Purchase Area Development District at 270-247-7171 or toll free at 1-877-352-5183.

Workforce Reuse Program Accomplishments:  The Skills Assessment Survey Database was utilized by PACE to assist the employment of their members with on-site contractors Bechtel Jacobs and Swift and Staley for a cumulative total of 363 jobs created.