N.C. Works has moved into Beaufort County, giving job seekers and those looking for skilled workers a leg up when it comes to employment.

Formerly known as JobLink, N.C. Works is the newest iteration of the one-stop centers designed to help facilitate connections between local business and the local workforce. The N.C. Works center is now one of two career centers in the Region Q district — serving Beaufort, Bertie, Hertford, Martin and Pitt counties — that has been certified by the state under the new design.

On Dec. 12, N.C. Works announced the official transition at the annual holiday open house held by its host agency, the Mid-East Commission.

“This is the new iteration of the one-stop centers,” said Walter Dorsey, Region Q Workforce Development director. “There’s a higher integration between the agencies that partner. … To the public, we want to have seamless delivery of services to meet their employment and training needs.”

Part of that process was the cross training of all six of the N.C. Works staff, so each is able to assist any person who walks in, regardless of whether they are looking to learn computer skills, need guidance on interview techniques or would benefit from a variety of other classes and programs offered by N.C. Works’ partnering agencies, according to N.C. Works Senior Manager Jennie Bowen. The staff also provides an introduction to NCWorks Online, a job-search website that actually alerts users to job opportunities based on his or her skillset.

The new iteration of the center, however, will also bridge the divide between local workers’ skills and what skills are needed in the business community.

“What we are offering is a match for our businesses’ needs. We’re much more active with employers,” Bowen said.

The list of partnering agencies all working to facilitate finding jobs for the unemployed and finding workers with specific skillsets is long: Region Q Workforce Development Board; Vocational Rehabilitation; Beaufort County Community College; Division of Workforce Solutions; Telamon, a youth program; United Way; Literacy Volunteers; Washington Housing, Inc.; Department of Social Services — all are teaming up to get eastern North Carolina’s unemployed working again.

For more information about the services offered by N.C. Works, visit www.ncworks.gov online, or the local office, at 1385 John Small Avenue, Washington. The office is open from 8 a.m. to 5  p.m., Mondays through Fridays.