By Jeanne Sager
CALLICOON — March 14, 2003 – There’s a new name running around the Delaware Valley Job Corps Center.
Though owned by the federal government, 118 Job Corps centers throughout the country are traditionally run by private companies which specialize in the job training for disadvantaged young men and women in the 16-24 age range.
And the government has just awarded a new bid for the Callicoon center, a five-year contract to oversee the facility and its programs.
Dynamic Educational Systems, Inc. (DESI) of Phoenix, Ariz., will take over the job from Career Systems Development Corp. of Rochester, which came 10 years ago to oversee the 24-year-old facility.
DESI’s contract will officially begin April 1.
According to the center’s business and community liaison, Peter Ward, the company is currently interviewing applicants for the 150 jobs the center provides – the facility is the largest employer in the hamlet of Callicoon and one of the largest in the Town of Delaware.
The employee structure is primarily area residents, Ward said, with 30 percent driving in from Wayne County, Pa., and the majority of the rest coming from Sullivan County.
But with a new company in charge, all of the current employees are re-applying for their jobs. Even Ward had to drop a new resume off this week to see if he’ll remain on the payroll.
“They’re interviewing three at a time,” Ward said. “They’ve got to hit the floor running April 1.”
The addition of the Callicoon facility will bring the number of Job Corps DESI operates to five.
The company annually enrolls more than 20,000 youth into more than 50 different centers. Another 23,000 students receive job placement assistance from DESI.
At the Delaware Valley center, 400 students – 200 girls and 200 boys – will receive training in everything from auto mechanics to dental assistance, business to cooking.