SC’s only Job Corps center in Bamberg closing

BAMBERG, S.C. (WJBF) — Job Corps Centers across the country are shutting down — and for those in Bamberg, it’s not just a facility closing. It’s a hit to jobs, opportunity, and the future of some young people.

“The closure of Job Corps could very well cost some young man, some young woman, their future,” Mayor Cory Ramsey said.

Ramsey says he found out just days ago that the Bamberg Job Corps — the only one in the state — is closing for good by June 30. “Even if it’s five jobs, it’s the impact of those lost jobs. Not only to the students, but to those individuals for whom this is their livelihood. that’s a great loss that I hate that we have to endure,” he added.

He’s worried not just about jobs — but about the lives changed here. “They could look at their lives and see where they want to go. What could they do with their life so that their life wouldn’t look like what was behind them?,” he shared.

Ramsey says the center gave students structure, mentoring, and a new path forward — often when no one else could or would. “Too often do we lose our children to systematic, marginalization systematic things that seems as if others are trying to serve themselves rather than serve others. And so that’s not acceptable,” the mayor added.

The Labor Department blames low graduation rates and a $213 million shortfall.
But Ramsey says the numbers don’t tell the whole story. “Beneath all of the black and white, they are those individual stories that their lives changed drastically because of Job Corps,” Ramsey said.

He also fears the ripple effect. SC Works just opened a connection center here to help folks find jobs. You may remember — we showed it to you last year. “What if that connection center, the next lawyer, the next, CEO of a company, they were going there for just their get their resume online.”

Mayor Ramsey says he plans to meet with Job Corps leadership within the next week — to offer support and learn more about what’s next for the students.