“It’s amazing to me – I have been on this kick for over 25 years. I have been on the Advisory Board for the local vocational schools, and of course the Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center, in Kentucky for [almost] 30 years. I have been pushing this [vocational training] forever. Finally, within the last year or two is starting to come around, and people are realizing how important the trade industry is.”

Don Decker of Mills Auto Body in Kentucky is a big supporter of the Earle C. Clements Job Corps Center in Morganfield, KY. We asked Don if he thinks Job Corps delivers trained recruits.

“It has,” he says. “We have been very fortunate with that. But it’s all up to the individual. Once they get here, they must decide whether they want to be successful or not. But we do give them the tools to do that. We have been very fortunate because we have hired three people who progressed to what we call ‘A-Techs’ in our body shops right now. They’ve been with me ten years and they are doing phenomenal.”

Don continues, “Job Corps, what I like about it is there’s some life skills involved, too. It’s not just about fixing cars. Some get it, and some don’t. But that’s life though, right? So, the ones that put their minds to it and set some goals, they’re going to be extremely successful. And Job Corps is part of that.”

Don has been around the Job Corps program for a long time. So, we asked him: Does Job Corps work?

“Oh absolutely – it’s awesome. Yeah, it’s really fun to see the young [students] take to the industry and take to life and move on with their professional and their personal careers. Job Corps is more important than ever now.”