By Betsy Finklea
The Dillon County One Stop will be closing on March 22nd at 5 p.m., according to Nancy G. Finklea, Director of WIA programs and Dillon County One Stop Manager.
The office, which helps job seekers with employment and training services, employs eight people.
The office opened in Dillon County on April 25, 1977 as the CETA program. In 1982, it became the JTPA program, and in 1998, WIA (Workforce Investment Act) was signed and shortly after it became the WIA One Stop office.
Over the years, the program has served thousands of people and has brought millions of dollars in grant money to the county.
Even as the office prepares to close, it still serves approximately 350-400 people a week. Just last year, over 20,000 visits were made to the office.
The closure came after the Pee Dee Workforce Investment Board voted to close One Stops in Dillon County and Chesterfield County.
Marion County had two One Stop locations, which have been combined into one office.
A small satellite center that will be open a few days each week will be located in Dillon County, but services will be limited. Those people seeking WIA services will now have to travel to Marion County.
While some media outlets have reported that the closure of the One Stop is due to the loss of stimulus funds, Finklea says that stimulus money was only used to enhance the efforts and services they already had in place.
“I believe that this is more in keeping with the effort to regionalize and privatize state services,” Finklea said. “When this happens, small counties suffer, and it is very tough on the citizens in rural counties as many don’t have computers with internet service to meet their needs online or don’t have a car or can’t afford the gas to seek services elsewhere.”
“This closure is going to be devastating to the unemployed and poor people in this county,” said Finklea. “The county will be feeling the effects of this closure and the loss of these services for years to come.”