For five years, Betty Senn has helped unemployed workers looking for a job. Now she and several of her colleagues are on the job hunt.
The Kansas Department of Commerce is closing 10 workforce development centers across the state and laying off 75 people. Emporia’s will not be closed but will be spun off to a private company, Dynamic Educational Systems, Inc. of Phoenix, Ariz. Four of the seven Emporia employees are leaving the office, three of whom have been laid off, including Senn, the manager.
“It’s been tough,” said Senn, the only one of the four that hasn’t found a job yet. “I can’t tell you that it hasn’t been.”
DESI takes over July 1.
The news comes just nine months after Senn received a “Big Thinker” award from the Department of Commerce, recognizing her as an outstanding employee. An earlier one had been won by Ron Newlin of the Emporia office.
The department put the services out for bid after deciding it no longer wanted to manage the Workforce Investment Act. Offices were closed in Manhattan, Newton, El Dorado, Chanute, Atchison, Cowley County, Dodge City, Hutchinson, Leavenworth and Liberal.
The fate of Emporia’s satellite office in Paola has not yet been decided. That office has one employee.
LuAnn Wilmore, Patty O’Dell and Ed VanVickle will remain with the Emporia office. Senn said that Ron Newlin is taking a position with the Council Grove program of Butler County Community College; Bill McCord will be working for SRS, and Marie Malone will start with Flint Hills Technical College in August.
“Fortunately, Emporia gets to keep its office open,” Senn said. “I think that shows how we’ve been proactive throughout the state in the workforce system.”
DESI was founded in 1985 and became a subsidiary of Exodyne in 1990. According to Exodyne’s Web site, DESI focuses on career training and job placement. Its major customer has been the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Job Corps.
“DESI’s master plan includes expanding into other government agencies that offer contracting opportunities in education and vocational training and providing customized training for business and industry,” according to the Web site.