A series of state-run job training courses will be offered in Mountain View Public Library in Northeast Anchorage starting Friday.
Course topics will include computer help, resume preparation, finding a job after being released from jail and interviewing skills.
Close to a quarter of Mountain View's residents are unemployed, which led to the state's decision to boost services in the area, state labor commissioner Heidi Drygas said in a statement Thursday.
"We're trying to reallocate some of our resources to serve a community that's really in need," said Brad Gillespie, employment services manager with the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
There are three state job centers in the Anchorage area: Midtown, Muldoon and Eagle River. Budget cuts in recent years have forced the state to consolidate services, seek out grants and join nonprofit organizations and other state agencies to keep offering programs at the job centers.
While a new job center isn't opening in Mountain View, the state will be able to offer job training by using space at the library, Gillespie said. He said participants will receive informal certificates that can then be presented to employers at a future job fair at the library.
Gillespie said the Mountain View program will use existing staff from the Midtown job center, at no additional cost to the state. He said the idea is to save Mountain View residents a trip.
Gillespie said he expects the state will hold another series of classes in the fall, heading into the holiday hiring season.
The first class, on resume preparation, will be held at 1 p.m. Friday in the Mountain View branch library, 120 Bragaw St.