The former operator of an Edinburgh education and career technical training center is laying off a little more than 200 employees, a filing published Friday shows.
Officials with Management & Training Corp., which operated and did business as the Atterbury Jobs Corps Center, is laying off 204 employees who used to work at the center, 3129 E. Edinburgh St. The layoffs, which are permanent, had a start date of Nov. 30, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed with the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.
Workers were notified of the layoffs on Nov. 13, but the notice was not published online by the DWD until Friday.
The Jobs Corps is a no-cost education and career technical training program administered by the Department of Labor. It helps young people ages 16 through 24 improve the quality of their lives through career technical and academic training.
Few details are listed on the notice, but COBRA benefits will be provided to affected employees. Information on why the layoffs occurred is not listed on the notice, neither are the positions of those affected.
However, a Nov. 13 letter to community partners from Management & Training Corp., or MTC, does provide an indication as to why the layoffs are happening. MTC is a contractor that manages private prisons and U.S. Job Corps centers.
In the letter, MTC Regional Vice President Steven Fuller said the company was not selected by the U.S. Department of Labor — which administers the Job Corps. program — to continuing operating the Atterbury center. The new operator named was Adams & Associates, which took over effective Dec. 1, the letter shows.
“Thank you for your support of the Job Corps program and students,” Fuller said in the letter to community partners.
The contracts for each center are up for re-bid every five years, said Emily Lawhead, MTC’s director of communications, in a statement to the Daily Journal. The spokesperson also said they expected the “vast majority” of their staff to remain at the center and be employed by the new contractor.
“MTC greatly values our employees, and we are grateful for their extraordinary work and commitment to preparing Atterbury students for success in the job market and in life,” Lawhead said. “During contract transitions, we expect the vast majority of our staff to remain at the center and be employed by the new contractor.”
The change in operators also affects the IndyPendence Job Corps. Center in Indianapolis, 135 N. Pennsylvania St., Suite 2000, as well.
Online records and filings from the Indiana Secretary of State’s office shows that MTC filed a request to have their Atterbury Jobs Corps. Center assumed business name canceled. This was approved effective Nov. 25, which means MTC can no longer conduct business under that name.
A representative of the Atterbury Job Corps. Center did not immediately return a request for comment on Friday.