TDOT’s New Perry County Employees Head to Work

 

NASHVILLE – Forty-six Perry County citizens hit the roads today as new employees of the Tennessee Department of Transportation.  On May 15, Governor Phil Bredesen outlined a plan to use federal Recovery Act funds to reduce unemployment in Perry County by up to 40 percent by putting a total of 300 people back to work. These 46 newly-hired TDOT workers are among the first to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the Governor’s plan.

 

“TDOT has worked quickly to hire, train and place dozens of Perry County citizens on the job,” said Bredesen. “These new jobs, along with others outlined in the plan, should begin to ease some of the strain caused by the economic downturn here in Perry County.”

 

TDOT received applications on Friday, May 15 and conducted interviews and hired 46 new highway maintenance workers on Tuesday, May 19. The new TDOT employees began work on Thursday, May 21 and received two days of new employee and safety training. 

 

“We welcome the opportunity to provide quick relief to some of Perry County’s unemployed,” said TDOT Commissioner Gerald Nicely. “Our highway maintenance workers perform duties that are essential to TDOT’s core mission and we are pleased to have these new recruits working in District 35.”

 

The newly-hired highway maintenance workers will work throughout TDOT’s District 35, which includes Perry, Dickson, Hickman and Humphreys Counties. Employees will meet in Linden each day where they will be separated into four crews and board vans that will transport them to their work sites. Some of the activities that will be performed by the new employees include litter pickup, tree and vegetation removal, mowing, graffiti removal, culvert cleaning, painting and fence repairs.

 

TDOT plans to hire at least four more employees in the coming days.  Perry County residents must meet certain income and asset requirements to be eligible for these positions.  

 

 

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