Everyone Needs A Coach…

But Not Necessarily This Kind of Coach

You can always tell when someone doesn’t have a plan. They do things, that seem on the face to address a problem, but when you take a second to think about it, you realize that it’s not a fix, but an indication that they don’t understand the problem.

Enter the luxuriousness that is the “Career Coach” which I will call the JobsMobile™!

What does the JobsMobile™ do? Well, it drives around the state to help people with their resumes and whatnot to help them present themselves better and hopefully find jobs.

What does the JobsMobile™ not do? Yeah, well if you’re looking for a job, they don’t have any. In fact, not only do they not have any, they don’t have a plan to have any. So if you happen to live in one of those areas where the major employer is thinking about closing or already has closed up shop, basically you’re still just as out of luck as you were before.

I’m all for people being connected with services. Additional training, help with resumes, even pointing them in the direction of the few jobs that may be out there. But the God’s honest truth is, looking for a job in Tennessee is about like looking for water in the Sahara.

Take a look at this map:

As you can see, the vast majority of the state has an unemployment rate of over 10%. There are only 2 counties with unemployment rates under 7.5%, one of which is the wealthiest county in Tennessee.

Now job training and whatnot is nice, because it’s an investment in people, but job training alone doesn’t bring jobs, a plan does, which seems to be something the administration of Co-Governors Ramsey and Haslam just plain don’t have.

Word on the street is that the state spent some $600k of that dreaded Federal Stimulus Money to get three JobsMobiles™ in the state, one for each division. That’s all well and good but we have 61 sites across the state to assist people. 61 sites that are open 9-5 every day in the same place. Maybe opening a few more of those might have employed a few more people, and helped even more people than that.

Because the JobsMobile™ only sticks around for so long. They’ve got a tight schedule of between two and three events a week at odd times, which is sure to serve all kinds of folks who need jobs, because they’re not working right?

What’s more, 7 of the first 15 locations the JobsMobile™ is going, already has some kind of Career Center, or affiliate in place, which makes the JobsMobile™ seem more like a PR stunt than anything else. This may explain why Representative Halford, who represents Gibson County (13.4% unemployment) and Carroll County (14.1% unemployment) is so freakin’ scared. He’s seen the plan the Republicans have in store for this year, and not a job one is a part of it.

In the end it just makes me sad. If the Ramsey/Haslam administration really thinks this a suped up RV with some internet and a SMART™ Board is going to do anything to help people in rural America, they’ve been sniffing too much glue. You’ve got to have a plan that includes attracting business to the state, and start to execute that plan.

If this is the Ramsey/Haslam jobs plan, there’s going to be a lot more suffering, and that makes me sad for the people of rural Tennessee.

Of course, I guess this is all just whining, since, you know, candidates for Governor don’t run on policy, just Chocolate Pie.

Perhaps Haslam should check the gauges on that economic dashboard he promised. I’m pretty sure they’re all running on empty, just like his promises.

87 Days and still no Jobs plan.