It’s a welcome sight to see some of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds heading into Sampson County (see story Page A1), especially in the form of grant money that will help retrain displaced workers.

The grant, in the amount of $100,000, was awarded to Sampson Community College through the JobsNOW “12 in 6” project which offers career training and certification in six months and at no cost to qualified individuals.

Those who successfully complete the course will earn both JobsNOW and Career Readiness certificates that will, in essence, say to an employer ‘hey I’m trained, qualified and ready to work.’

The key now is getting those displaced workers, or anyone who is on unemployment rolls, to motivate in that direction.

In total, SCC has the funding to train 67 people in one of six program areas — masonry, carpentry, truck driving, nursing assistant, medical billing/coding and industrial maintenance. It would be a shame if there weren’t 67 individuals to take advantage of such a tremendous offering.

One thing is certain, with over 2,800 unemployed people in Sampson County, and the layoffs that have been experienced in the past few months, there should be enough eligible individuals out there to fill the slots available.

The need is certainly there, and now help is in place. All that is left is for people to take the necessary steps to move the ball forward, steps that aren’t difficult to achieve, with an end result that could mean a job for some fortunate individuals.

This is stimulus money that has the potential to make a genuine difference in the lives of people right here in Sampson County, providing them six months of educational training and a better shot at unemployment than they likely would have without it.

The community college has tackled its toughest challenge in securing significant funding to offer such a program. The next step will be ensuring that this program is the success it ought to be.

How successful it is depends upon the college, he Employment Security Commission’s JobLink Service and, most especially, Sampson County residents.

Classes begin Aug. 17. Those who haven’t already begun looking into this program’s viability for themselves should begin doing so as quickly as possible. It could very well mean the difference between the unemployment line and a new career.