The City of Hattiesburg and Pearl River Community College have joined to provide free Commercial Driver’s License training for city employees beginning in August. Officials from both entities see the program as the start of a powerful relationship.
Mayor Toby Barker announced the classes will start in August with five students at the Bobby L. Chain Airport.
“This additional layer of professional development for our current and future employees opens up that opportunity to get that CDL license,” he said, “allowing employees to apply for higher-paying jobs, whether they are for the city, helping us retain dedicated workers or in the private sector.”
The program announcement comes after the Hattiesburg City Council last week approved a partnership with the University of Southern Mississippi to provide full-time first responders the opportunity to complete their undergraduate education. Completion of a degree would increase the first responder’s pay.
Barker said the city is trying to provide opportunities for employees to increase their salaries.
“In one year, we have made great strides of trying to tackle the issue of employee pay,” he said. “However, our ability to generate the revenue to pay for those while meeting other needs across the city is limited. There is no limit to the number of partnerships we can form to provide other benefits to employees to enable us to retain those and also to give them a better employee experience that can empower their own career and step into the private sector.”
Education is one of Hattiesburg’s three main areas of development, Barker said. The other two are the military and the health care industry.
“When you think of strengths in Hattiesburg, you make a long list,” he said. “For the City of Hattiesburg, we know that Pearl River Community College, Southern Miss, William Carey and all of our educational institutions are strengths. If we can open the doors to foster partnerships that benefit our employees, benefit these educational institutions and, thus, benefit the entire citizenry of Hattiesburg, we are going to do that each and every time.”
Barker said the CDL program at Pearl River CC came from discussions about partnerships.
“This last year, we have discussed at great lengths what we can do better as a city to provide our employees opportunities to further their training and skills,” he said. “While we aim to create the best possible employee experience, we continue to cultivate partnerships and programming to provide a better work environment, enhancing our footing as a credible organization by focusing on the people we employ and the people we value.”
PRCC President Dr. Adam Breerwood said the community college and the City of Hattiesburg are working toward the same goal.
“It doesn’t take long to realize that we share a vision, as a city and also as a college to try to provide educational opportunities and workforce training opportunities for those we serve,” he said. “This (CDL) program is a small indicator of where we believe we are headed in the future. We look forward to continued partnerships and continued opportunities.”
