TDOT’s New Lauderdale County Employees Head to Work
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 | 04:10am
New Hires are on the Job after Two Days of Safety and New Employee Training
NASHVILLE – Twenty-nine Lauderdale County citizens hit the roads today as new employees of the Tennessee Department of Transportation. On December 16, 2009, Governor Phil Bredesen outlined a plan to use federal Recovery Act funds to reduce unemployment and put 175 people back to work in Lauderdale County. The 29 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 these Lauderdale County citizens on the job as highway maintenance workers,” said Bredesen. “These new jobs, along with others outlined in the plan to reduce unemployment in Lauderdale County, should begin to ease some of the strain caused by the economic downturn.”
TDOT received applications from unemployed Lauderdale County residents on Tuesday, January 19 then conducted interviews and hired the 29 new highway maintenance workers on Friday, January 22. The new TDOT employees began work on Monday, January 25 and received two days of new employee and safety training.
“We welcome the opportunity to provide quick relief to some of Lauderdale 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 45.”
The newly-hired highway maintenance workers will work throughout TDOT’s District 45, which includes Lauderdale, Tipton and Shelby Counties. Employees will meet in Ripley each day where they will be separated into working groups and given their assignments for the day. The groups will then 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 21 more employees in the coming days. Lauderdale County residents must meet certain income and asset requirements to be eligible for these positions.
For more information contact Nichole Lawrence, TDOT Region 4 Human Resources/Community Relations, at 731-225-6041 (cell), 731-935-0318 (office) or Nichole.Lawrence@tn.gov.
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