By Josh Bergeron

josh.bergeron@salisburypost.com

SALISBURY — The Saleeby-Fisher YMCA in Rockwell will host informational meetings on Monday and Tuesday for a free jobs training program.

Individual meetings will focus on careers in health care, emergency services, manufacturing and transportation. The meetings will include employer panels and information about jobs, training and scholarships. Employers will attend the meetings to answer questions from attendees.

Meetings will be at the following times:

• A “Careers in Health Care” meeting will be held Monday from 10 a.m. to noon.

• A “Careers in Emergency Services” meeting will be held Monday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

• A “Careers in Manufacturing” meeting will be held Tuesday from 10 a.m. to noon.

• A “Careers in Transportation” will be held Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

The meetings are free and open to the public. They will serve as an introduction to a county-government-funded program that provides scholarships for job training, said Ann Morris, the associate vice president for corporate and continuing education at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. The program is known as Better Jobs for Better Lives in Rowan County.

The job training program will be conducted through Rowan-Cabarrus Community College.

People who attend meetings on Monday and Tuesday won’t sign up for classes on site. Instead, Morris said, people interested in job training could get more information about a class that’s coming up. She said a class may be available in the near future or there may be a waiting period.

Because county government allocated money to the new jobs training program, scholarships are available for all career paths, Morris said. The application process is simple, and scholarships can be provided to anyone who lives in Rowan County, she said.

She said job training programs vary in length depending on the industry. Truck driver training, for example, lasts nine weeks and includes day-long sessions. Other training programs require shorter sessions, Morris said.

She said it’s important that interested people are matched with the right career. People who don’t like the sight of blood probably shouldn’t choose to be trained as a nurse aide, she said.

After completing the training, it’s likely that participants will receive a job offer, Morris said. In the manufacturing sector, training programs offered through Rowan-Cabarrus Community College have a 93 percent hiring rate. For truck driver training, there’s a hiring rate of more than 90 percent, she said.

Morris said people interested in the job training courses could contact her for more information. Her email is ann.morris@rcc.edu or 704-216-3542.

Morris said the college can schedule individual information meetings for people unable to attend one of this week’s interest sessions.

Contact reporter Josh Bergeron at 704-797-4246.