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Connected Tennessee’s Computers 4 Kids (C4K) program and Perry County leaders gathered Friday, June 4, to celebrate the progress Perry County has made since partnering with Connected Tennessee and AT&T one year ago to bring increased technology and opportunity to Perry County.
Last June, working with AT&T, Computers 4 Kids proudly donated 20 computers and other hardware to the VisionPerry Summer Youth Employment Program.
Since that time, Perry County has utilized those computers to create a “Digital Factory,” located at VisionPerry headquarters. While the lack of a four-lane highway and the remoteness in the county have in the past been major obstacles to attracting new business to the area, the Digital Factory will be conducted entirely using the Internet.
“Over the past year, Perry County and the City of Linden have been able to utilize the computers given to us by Computers 4 Kids and AT&T to launch new opportunities, new jobs, and new hope for the people of this county,” remarked City of Linden Mayor, Jim Azbill. “Through our Digital Factory, we are going to be able to put dozens and eventually hundreds of our citizens to work. We are very thankful for this generous donation and the opportunities it has afforded our county.”
VisionPerry was launched as part of Governor Bredesen’s plan to reduce unemployment in Perry County by using federal dollars from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to provide summer employment and job training opportunities to low-income residents.
Twenty laptops, four printers and two scanners were awarded to the Summer Youth Employment Program in Perry County, thanks to a $25,000 grant from AT&T. At the time of the donation, Perry County had the state’s highest rate of unemployment and the nation’s second highest rate—25.4 percent—with 760 unemployed residents.
Friday’s event took place at the VisionPerry Headquarters in downtown Linden. City of Linden Mayor Jim Azbill, Perry County Mayor John Carroll, and Jennifer Weems, Field Director for Senator Bob Corker, were all on hand to show their support of the program.
According to Connected Tennessee figures, in 2007 Perry County had only a 16 percent broadband adoption rate; that figure has now jumped to 44 percent—the fourth highest increase in the state.
Kathy Sager, with AT&T, said her company is following with great interest the program in Perry County, and added, “Our support doesn’t end here; we working to see what we can do to keep this program moving forward.”
Mayor Azbill praised Perry County’s residents, “Everybody has stepped up to help, but really the people have helped themselves. We have a great, dedicated workforce in Perry County. We’re showing the state that if you give us an opportunity, we can help ourselves.”
VisionPerry Program Director Michael Dumont reviewed the steps taken by the organization in the past year, starting with 65 youth last summer who participated in projects ranging from community clean-up and improvements to public art.
Dumont said the next logical step was the creation of the Digital Factory to provide training opportunities for local citizens. So far, 17 individuals have secured training and jobs, and many more are currently being trained.
“It’s a humbling experience and why we come to work every day,” Dumont said.
Customer Service Training Director Tatiana Proctor said that many of the people who come to VisionPerry looking for assistance have lost their jobs and are out of money. “We give them a couple of weeks of training,” she said, “and they are happy to have a job. The bottom line is: we get people jobs and they can support themselves.”
Paul Van Hoesen first came to Perry County last year as a consultant through the Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development to work on the Digital Factory idea. He described the local situation as “an intersection of smart, human capital” that made the project possible.
“This is a rare situation,” Van Hoesen said, “that we are working to sustain by taking people through training into employment. We are working with TSU and other organizations, and finding a lot of interest out there for these skill sets. We’ll be trying to reproduce this model statewide, and the success here could impact the entire state.”
The final speaker was Misty Warren, whose family is from Perry County; Warren said she moved to the county four years ago and found very few employment options, other than factory work.
“I came to VisionPerry and they inspired me; they did wonders for me I never thought were possible,” said Warren, who now works as a customer service online representative, thanks to her new training.
Dumont, looking ahead, said, “By this time next year, we’ll have a trained, 21st century workforce.”
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