State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond recently announced that the Georgia Department of Labor will provide $42,000 for summer jobs for youth 14 through 21 in East Central Georgia. The grant will help create jobs for 35 youth, including young people with disabilities.

The funds are part of $1.3 million that the labor department will provide statewide for the creation of 1,100 summer jobs for youth in rural and urban Georgia communities with limited employment opportunities. The East Central Georgia Workforce Area covers 12 counties: Columbia, Glascock, Hancock, Jefferson, Jenkins, Lincoln, McDuffie, Screven, Taliaferro, Warren, Washington and Wilkes.

In making the announcement, Commissioner Thurmond said, "The jobs created by this grant will offer young people the chance to earn wages and develop good work ethics, such as respect for authority and the value of deferred gratification. Skills such as these are critical to long-term success in the workplace."

The initiative is a partnership between the labor department and the state's 20 Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs). In its fourth year, the program has previously allocated $3.02 million to serve 3,487 youth across the state.

Each youth will typically work 32 hours per week for six weeks and earn $5.15 per hour. A wide variety of jobs in both the public and private sectors will be available for the young people.

Youth interested in applying for one of these summer jobs should contact their local Workforce Investment Boards for more area-specific information. In the East Central Georgia area, telephone 706-595-8941.