Georgia 
 
Department of Labor 
 
NEWS RELEASE 
 
SUITE 642 
 
 
 
(404) 232-3685 
 
148 INTERNATIONAL BOULEVARD, N.E. 
 
 
 
ATLANTA, GA 30303-1751 
 
 
 
FAX (404) 657-9996  Communications@dol.state.ga.us 
 
Michael Thurmond 
Commissioner 
 
Sam Hall 
Director of Communications 
 
March 24, 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
 
Thurmond announces $26,638 grant for summer jobs for youth in South Georgia area 
 
ATLANTA  State Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond announced today that the Georgia Department of Labor will provide $26,638 for summer jobs for youth 14 through 21 in the South Georgia area. 
The funds are part of a $1 million grant that the labor department will provide statewide to create summer jobs for youth in rural and urban Georgia communities with limited employment opportunities. 
In making the announcement, Commissioner Thurmond said, "The jobs created by this grant will offer many young people their best opportunity to get a job and earn wages this summer, when jobs may be scarce because of our weakening labor market. Their experience in a real-life working environment will also provide them the opportunity to develop good work ethics and better prepare them to eventually enter the job market fulltime." 
The grant will help create 20 jobs for youth in South Georgia, including those with disabilities who are enrolled in High School/High Tech, a department program designed to help students with disabilities study technology. 
Each youth will typically work 32 hours per week for six weeks and earn $5.85 per hour. A wide variety of jobs in both the public and private sectors will be available for the young people. 
The initiative is a partnership between the labor department and the state's 20 Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs). In its sixth year, the program has previously allocated $5.3 million to serve 5,920 youth across the state. 
Youth interested in applying for one of these summer jobs should contact their local Workforce Investment Board for more information. In the South Georgia area, the contact is Marcia Gaskins, director of the South Georgia WIB, at 327 W. Savannah Ave. in Valdosta. The telephone number is (229) 333-5277. 
NEWS MEDIA NEEDING MORE INFORMATION MAY CALL (404) 232-3685 CY-08-097