ANACONDA – After more than 50 years in the community, Anaconda is not ready to give up the fight to save the Job Corps.
“The Job Corps is something this community cannot lose. What they contribute to this community is beyond words,” said Anaconda Chief Executive Bill Everett.
The U.S. Department of Labor announced last week that it will close the Anaconda office by September.
The organization, which provides job training in numerous fields, has helped the community in many ways, including during this winter’s devastating snow storm.
“They showed up with 50 kids helping out. They dug out all the fire hydrants, they dug out people’s driveways, stuck cars they helped out with, they were absolutely tremendous,” said Everett.
Losing the Job Corps also would have a negative impact on Anaconda’s economy.
“There are 70 full-time, good-paying jobs up there. We can’t lose those and we have 200 students up there right now. Those students spend a lot of time in our community, at our movie theater, at our bowling alley, at our stores,” said Everett.
The battle to save the Anaconda Job Corps will ultimately be fought in Washington D.C., but the chief executive said he still needs the community of Anaconda to rally our congressmen.
“There’s several petitions going on; you’ve seen some on Facebook, we’ve got people going around town with petitions as well. And I’m urging people to pick up the phone and call Daines, call Tester, call Gianforte, let them know, ‘gosh darn it, we need this,’” said Everett.
-John Emeigh reporting for MTN News
