KOTZEBUE JOB CENTER BACK IN BUSINESS

The "Open for Business" sign is officially back on the door of the Kotzebue Job Center, the Department of Labor and Workforce Development announced today.

The department hired Sandra Russell, a lifelong resident of Kotzebue, to assist those seeking job training and funding assistance under the Workforce Investment Act and State Training and Employment Program or STEP. Russell will also assist employers and job seekers.

"The reopening of the Kotzebue Job Center represents our strong commitment to maintain effective services in the Northwest corner of Alaska," Labor Commissioner Ed Flanagan said. "Sandra is highly skilled at providing employment, job training, and worker-readiness services to residents of Kotzebue and the Northwest Arctic Borough." In the past, the services have been provided in Kotzebue by staff from Nome and Fairbanks Job Centers on an itinerant or long distance basis, Flanagan noted.

As a representative of the department's Employment Security Division, Russell works with other agencies in the region that promote employment, economic development, training, and job readiness. She is a ready source of career, labor market, and labor-related information.

Russell comes to the post with an extensive background in human and social services work experience in Kotzebue. She is a lifelong Kotzebue resident and has worked with the Chukchi College as a registrar, with the City of Kotzebue, the Kotzebue Trial Courts and, most recently, with the Division of Public Assistance.