by CAROL BRZOZOWSKI
In creating programs meeting the region’s job sector needs, Hinds Community College’s success is rooted in creating customized training for companies’ needs versus telling a company what it can do, notes Michael Curran, senior workforce coordinator for South Central Mississippi Works (SCMW).
SCMW is housed at the Central Mississippi Planning and Development District, which manages a local workforce area covering 17 southwestern Mississippi counties.
Dr. Ginger Robins, Hinds Community College vice president of workforce development and governmental affairs, notes construction occupations are in high demand with all of the state’s information infrastructure economic development projects.
Data center construction is the driving factor.
SCMW’s training prepares workers for the construction and operation of emerging data centers for AWS and other companies.
Hinds Community College’s custom training initiatives in correlation with AccelerateMS feature an AWS Information Infrastructure Pre-Apprenticeship program for related fields: general construction, maintenance, HVAC, plumbing and server technician.
“HVAC is huge in data centers, because the data centers’ servers run hot and have to be kept cool with a robust and sophisticated HVAC system,” Curran notes. “A lot of contractors in the area — including AWS — are champing at the bit to hire them,” Curran says.
Hinds Community College offers electrical, line worker, carpentry and pipefitting as well as the plumbing and HVAC programs to meet strong advanced manufacturing demands.
Robins says the non-credit electrical line worker program offered three times a year is full with people on the waiting list.
“Machining, mechatronics and electromechanical programs support the advanced manufacturing industry with strong industry partners such as Continental Tire, Siemens and Eaton aerospace,” says Robins.
Healthcare professions are a significant need especially in central Mississippi, the state’s medical hub. Hinds Community College’s new health sciences complex will offer classes in August, expanding the number of students it can accept through evening and weekend programs.
The Hinds Community College District includes the counties of Hinds, Claiborne, Copiah, Rankin and Warren and provides workforce development services for students and companies throughout the region.
Photo courtesy of HCC
Hinds Community College also provides a Commercial Driver’s License (CDL) program, working with several large area transportation companies — such as the Empire/Stribling trucking company — to conduct training as well as provide tailored diesel mechanic and diesel technician programs along with apprenticeship programs. The program has a high rate of completion and job offers with further training.
Curran notes one reason why the trucking industry and a CDL is a significant career choice: The area is at the crossroads of Interstates 20 and 55 as well as U.S. Route 49 where many logistics companies — and the training center — are located.
CMPDD has worked with AccelerateMS, which funds Career Coaches, a program SCMW operates at 46 high schools in 17 counties.
“They are employed through us, allowing them to be focused on one job,” says Curran, adding that traditional high school counselors are inundated with other student concerns unrelated to career exploration.
Career Coaches take tours of area businesses to learn about needed jobs, pay and training and may work with Hinds Community College to develop pre-apprenticeship programs and internships.
AccelerateMS funds STEP-UP, where high school career coaches work with high school students to identify individuals interested in careers in the associated fields, provide mentorship and help with resumes and soft skills.
Students will get paid $10 an hour while taking a class to assist with financial barriers, such as having a part-time after-school job. Summer internships pay $15 to $19 an hour.
SCMW also partners with Hinds Community College, Holmes Community College and BuildMS to offer Reconnect Career Training, a free program for long-term unemployed and underemployed Mississippians 17 years and older.
Training programs are tailored to meet the needs of high-demand, high-paying jobs such as commercial electricians, construction engineers and technicians, electrical engineers, engineering technicians, fiber fusion splicing specialists, HVAC technicians, heavy equipment operators, industrial maintenance technicians and plumbers/pipefitters.
Students are paid $10 an hour while enrolled. Internships are available with pay based on participating companies’ starting rate. The program includes a career fair.
Hinds awarded 2,716 credentials last academic year (2024-2025), with 52% tied to AccelerateMS designated priority occupations.
Robins notes a low workforce participation rate in the state due to adults without post high school training, often because they are working to support themselves and their children.
Hinds Community College launched The Learning Circle on its urban Jackson campus for those seeking education in high-demand areas: math, English, science, culinary technology, early childhood education, logistics technology, business office technology, and welding and cutting technology.
Childcare and an evening meal are provided.
“We’ve come a long way in being able to be very strategic and timely in our response to industry needs,” notes Robins, adding it brings her joy to see it happen.