In July 2024, Bluegrass Director of Workforce Services Tiffanie Reeves emphasized to staff the importance of finding ways to "do more with less," as overall funding had declined in recent years. As a result, the local workforce area decided that small training cohorts might offer a solution. The goal is to serve or upskill job seekers while addressing local employers' hiring needs.

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The Kentucky Career Center – Bluegrass/American Job Center (KCC-B) partnered with Bluegrass Community and Technical College (BCTC) to bring first training cohort to a rural county in Fall 2024, which was reported on in an earlier edition.  The result was three commercial driver’s license (CDL) students completing four weeks of CDL training onsite in Estill County through BCTC. Bluegrass workforce staff partnered closely with the Judge Executive’s office and BCTC to identify a location for the training. Staff met participants at the local library in Estill County to make the eligibility/ enrollment process for enrollment and registration as seamless as possible. Those participants successfully completed their CDL training and have since then been hired as local drivers and have commended the KCC-B for making an impact on their lives.

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With the success of the first rural county training cohort under our belt, we decided to create our next one for Lincoln/Garrard Counties. Staff began planning with BCTC Workforce Solutions on how to best serve those counties. Based on discussions with local employers and area contacts it was determined that there was a labor shortage of nurse aides in the area and many nursing homes/long-term care providers lacked qualified job seekers to filled positions needed. BCTC agreed to host a nurse aide cohort, specifically for KCC-B participants. The training would upskill jobseekers to improve the number of qualified applications available to employers in the area.

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This training cohort is set to begin on February 24th for a total of eight weeks (one day per week) for students to gain their nurse aide certification. In an example of this incredible partnership between the KCC-B and BCTC, BCTC has offered to transport any participants  who did not have transportation to the Danville BCTC Campus for their class each week.

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This cohort specifically targeted 18–24-year-olds who did not wish to pursue a two- or four-year post-secondary degree and wanted to join the workforce immediately. The goal was to enroll six individuals for this cohort but due to the large volume of referrals, BCTC agreed to increase the class size to 15.

Riding the growing wave of excitement about these rural county cohorts the Bluegrass is also actively working with Mercer County/Harrodsburg Water Treatment Facility for a small work-based learning cohort for water treatment operators.

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Harrodsburg Water Treatment Facility identified the shortage of water treatment operators for their county (along with surrounding counties) and reached out to the Bluegrass to see about a potential partnership. Three students have been selected from Burgin High School and enrolled into the Putting Young Kentuckians’ First Program through the KCC-B. These three students will be placed into a paid internship to gain skills to become Water Treatment Operators.

This cohort is on track to launch the first of March 2025.