Carol Johnson, Southern Indiana Business Report
BEDFORD – The South Central Region 8 Workforce Board maintains a WorkOne location in
each of the eight counties it serves to provide employment and training services to their
residents.
Two of those county offices recently moved into new spaces.
WorkOne offices in Bedford and Linton relocated over the past few months. Susan Neal,
Executive Director of WorkOne Operations in Region 8, said the new office locations help them to better serve the community.
The Bedford WorkOne relocated from their previous location on Mitchell Road. The office is
back downtown, occupying space in the StoneGate Arts & Education Center, located at 931
15th Street. Five staff are on-site to provide employment and training services to Lawrence
County residents.
“We were on the square before we moved to Mitchell Road. We weren’t as accessible to people as we had been when we were downtown. We felt the necessity to look for space that would allow us to better serve the community,” Neal stated.
WorkOne staff regularly worked with StoneGate Executive Director Linda Henderson on events such as job fairs and that led to conversations about moving to StoneGate.
“It’s a regional asset and community resource for us to have WorkOne here,” said Henderson. “We have collaborated with WorkOne on job fairs and other activities prior to them moving in so this is a natural next step. We are morphing into more of a regional workforce development hub, we have more workforce skilled training coming to StoneGate versus the academic classes.”
StoneGate opened in 2019 and has agreements with several colleges such as Ivy Tech
Community College, Vincennes University and Indiana Wesleyan to connect residents with
college programs. Neal said the presence of these education programs are another benefit of working out of StoneGate.
“If we have someone who expresses interest in any of their programs, we have a direct contact to someone about their options,” she said.
Adult Education Classes are also offered on-site by Vincennes University Adult Education.
Linton WorkOne office
The Linton WorkOne also moved into a new office at 2170 E. State Road 54 in February.
Neal said the previous locations was more space than was needed. “Changes in staffing levels have led us to no longer needed that much space,” Neal said.
The newly renovated Linton office houses a staff of six; additional staff for other programs rotate in and out to provide additional services to Greene County residents.
Adult Education Classes are also offered on-site by Wagler Education and Training Center.
With unemployment services being available online, many Hoosiers are able to access those services virtually; however, there are still a significant numbers of Hoosiers who lack access or the digital literacy skills to complete those services, so having a physical office is essential to the community.
Employment and training services are available for the following individuals: Veterans, job
seekers with disabilities, unemployed individuals, those without a high school diploma, youth adults, migrant farm workers and older individuals. For more information about the types of services offered, click here.