Melancon congratulates GREAT graduates

U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon (DLa.) visited the Louisiana Community and Technical College System’s Lafourche campus in Thibodaux to meet and congratulate graduates of the GREAT program.

“GREAT” stands for “Get Rewarded for Education and Advancement Training” and is part of the “I’m GREAT” campaign to recruit and train 20,000 new construction workers in the Gulf Coast region by the end of 2009.

The GREAT program was designed to help bolster residents’ sense of self-worth through participation in the construction industry.

“Even before the hurricanes, we were in dire need of construction labor, not just in the Gulf region, but across the country,” said Melancon, a longtime supporter of the program. “This program brilliantly matches committed, hard-working residents with the training they need to revitalize our home. We are just beginning to understand the full physical and psychological impacts of these events; ‘I’m GREAT’ addresses both of these critical aspects of rebuilding.”

The graduation event took place on Aug. 28.

The “I’m GREAT” campaign is sponsored by the Gulf Coast Workforce Development Initiative (GCWDI).

The initiative recently announced it is ahead of schedule in its efforts to recruit 20,000 new construction workers.

“Just over a year into our ambitious program, we already have over 7,500 training completions, with another 2,000 students enrolled in classes,” said DuPont chairman and CEO and co-chairman of the GCWDI Charles O. Holliday Jr. “Residents of Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas have embraced our free classes, demonstrating the vitality of the region and the residents’ fierce desire to rebuild. We’re so encouraged by the success thus far that we hope to step up recruiting efforts and expand into Alabama as well.”

The Business Roundtable conceived the GCWDI in response to the damage caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The organization consists of 160 CEOs from U.S. companies.