Behind the Scenes at MassHire Lowell's ARPA Skills Center
By Jim Foley, April 2024
Go behind the scenes with our Nicholas Campbell as he shows you what it's like inside the new ARPA Skills Center.
In the MassHire Lowell ARPA Skills Center, Computer Instructor Nicholas Campbell helps connect job seekers with the certifications that may be missing from their resumes. Campbell noted examples behind him along the wall where anyone can see some of the certifications achieved by Lowell residents.
The Skills Center caters to the demands seen on job listings. This includes QuickBooks online, Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel and Word. They also have a comprehensive Digital Literacy course that walks customers through the basics of computers.
Campbell said he is focused on digital because it seems to be where everything is moving, whether it is remote, at a desk, or behind the computer — even someone like a factory worker.
A lot of times workers have to program computers to run automations. Secretaries who are used to writing things down on paper are at risk of not having the same type of job anymore because the work may become all computerized. Campbell said he wants to teach them the skills so that something like this does not happen again. There are little things that computers help companies with that jobs are requiring now, rather than having it be a recommendation.
Campbell lives in Lowell also, so he said it is nice to be able to help his neighbors with either helping them find a job because they are unemployed or make more money in the jobs they already have by increasing their skill set for what is required for their next step in their career.
ARPA is the American Rescue Plan Act, which the federal government pushed through as an initiative to spark the United States economy and help jumpstart the job market for job seekers.
If someone is interested in the Skills Center, they can come to MassHire Lowell Career Center at 107 Merrimack St., Lowell, Mass., or register online at masshirelowellcc.com/arpa. Lowell residents are able to come in and set up an appointment with a career advisor who will work hand-in-hand with Campbell to make sure the career center is taking their careers to the next level.
MassHire Program & Services are funded in part by US Department of Labor (USDOL) Employment and Training Administration grants as well as non-federal funded grants. Additional details furnished upon request.