ATU-Ozark to provide job training at Chaffee Crossing

Through a partnership with the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, Arkansas Tech University-Ozark Campus will offer air-conditioning and refrigeration (ACR) classes at Chaffee Crossing for dislocated workers.
 
Pending approval from the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, ATU-Ozark will host classes for 25 students leading to an ACR technical certificate, noted a university statement.

The ACR program, which will run for one year, is funded by an Arkansas Department of Workforce Services (DWS) grant that assists in paying for students’ tuition, fees and supplies.

TAA, a program of the U.S. Department of Labor implemented locally by DWS, can pay for up to 156 weeks worth of classes to complete a technical certificate or associate degree.

“This is a great partnership between Chaffee Crossing, Workforce Services and the Ozark Campus that’ll allow dislocated workers, whose jobs were sent out of the country, to stay in the area, receive quality retraining and get back out into the workforce,” Financial Aid Associate Director Justina Buck said in the statement.

Since 2007, ATU-Ozark has served more than 400 dislocated workers as a result of various layoffs throughout western Arkansas. More than 200 of those directly came from Whirlpool.

Students will apply through ATU-Ozark, but TAA will help with the student selection process.