Manchester, KY. – Dozens of community leaders and guests gathered at the Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) Manchester Campus on Friday, Oct. 11, for a Teleworks USA open house celebration to commemorate the opening of the new Teleworks USA Digital Career Center.

An initiative of Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program (EKCEP), Inc., Teleworks USA recently partnered with EKU to open the Center, which will allow jobseekers in and around Clay County to have a designated space with everything needed to complete Teleworks USA’s customer service and technical support workshops, as well as to prepare for and land digital economy jobs.

This new Center will connect people with brand new job opportunities for prospective teleworkers in Clay and surrounding counties, noted Michael Cornett, EKCEP Director of Agency Expansion and EKCEP.

“We couldn’t be more happy to have entered into this collaborative effort with EKU,” Cornett said. “This Center represents an opportunity in the digital economy for people right here in Clay and surrounding counties. Through partnerships with a number of national and global companies, we’re working to connect people with legitimate, well-paying jobs that are bringing new wages and opportunities to Eastern Kentucky.”

The event opened up to the public after the official celebration, allowing those interested in Teleworks USA to come and tour the Center, learn more about remote-work opportunities, and enroll in upcoming workshops.

Teleworks USA identifies and develops legitimate remote-work job opportunities with multiple national and global companies, and helps prospective teleworkers prepare for and land those positions. Starting salaries for most jobs range between $10-$13 per hour.

Teleworks USA has featured ongoing on-site activity and monthly workshops at the new Digital Career Center. Though the first workshop has already begun, Teleworks USA Outreach Manager Amy Nunn urged those interested to contact her to learn more about the next workshop or what she can do to assist them in getting a teleworking position. During the workshops, prospective teleworkers can expect to gain valuable computer and digital literacy skills that will boost their success in landing a work-from-home job that can be performed from a home office over the internet.

EKCEP Executive Director Jeff Whitehead spoke on the impact of Teleworks USA on the region and how that fits in with EKCEP’s mission.

“Appalachia is not a problem to be solved, it is a solution to be discovered,” Whitehead said. “We’ve not only seen the economies in other areas where Teleworks USA offices and resources have opened up greatly impacted thanks to Teleworks opening doors for those jobseekers to the global digital economy. We’ve also heard from those teleworking companies that are hiring our people that they couldn’t believe the quality workforce we have here in the region—and that they’re going to continue coming back here because of that. That couldn’t have happened without this program.”

Kentucky Senate President Robert Stivers served as the keynote speaker and was also joined on stage by EKU East Region Director Terry Gray, EKU Special Assistant to the President and Senior VP for Operations Ryan Wilson, and EKU Executive Director of Regional Programming and Regional Stewardship Melissa Newman. Other speakers included Shaping Our Appalachian Region (SOAR) Executive Director Jared Arnett, Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative CEO Keith Gabbard, and Teleworks USA Operations Manager Betty Hays.

The Teleworks USA Digital Career Center is located in room 107 within the EKU Manchester Campus, located at 50 University Drive. For more information, or to enroll for the upcoming workshop, contact Amy Nunn at 606-438-1533 or via email at anunn@teleworksusa.com. 

Click here for a gallery of images from the Digital Career Center and open house celebration.

Since 2015, Teleworks USA Hubs in Hazard, Hyden, Annville, Beattyville, Booneville, Harlan, Louisa, and Pike County have helped bring jobs to more than 2,400 Eastern Kentuckians, and those positions carry an estimated $54.9 million in economic impact in new annual wages to teleworkers across the Eastern Kentucky Coalfields. Telworks USA is a Blueprint Partner of SOAR. To learn more, visit www.teleworksusa.com.