Video: First Graduate Of ‘Furniture Academy’ Gets Job At Northeast Mississippi Company

NEW ALBANY, MISS. (WCBI) – For Carla Shackelford, this is a birthday she will never forget.

It is the first day on a new job, and career for the New Albany resident.

“I’m going to start out sewing, today they have me trained and sewing on pillows,” Shackelford said.

Carla went to her nearest WIN Job Center, where she learned about a new program called “The Furniture Academy.”

“She goes through a ten hour OSHA training, so the necessary skills to be a good teammate and a good associate is what this training provides,” said Rusty Berryhill, who is president of Kevin Charles Furniture, one of five companies, along with MSU, that joined forces to form “The Furniture Academy.”

For Carla Shackelford, the Furniture Academy not only gave her the jump start to a new career, she is a single mom supporting two kids.  She says the Furniture Academy and the job at Kevin Charles, are blessings to her family.

“It’s very important for me to be  able to provide for me and my kids and hopefully I plan on working on some things, building up again and hopefully I can build up again and hopefully get us a house,” she said.

Those who graduate the 28 hour free course go to the front of the hiring line for participating companies, plus, they get a higher base pay when they are hired.

Other companies taking part are;  HomeStretch,  Max Homes,  H M Richards and Southern Motion.  For information on how to get into the Furniture Academy, go to the WIN Job Center,  or www.steptothefrontoftheline.com