Chase City raises money for job center

The building that houses the Estes Community Center has long been a focal point of the downtown in this small Southside Virginia town.

During the Great Depression, it was the first headquarters for a small trucking company founded by W.W. Estes that grew to become Richmond-based Estes Express Lines, now an international freight company. Later, the building was a Rose's store.

For 10 years now, it has been a focal point for different reasons. Thousands of residents of Southside have come to the Estes Center for job training, especially those seeking work in growing industries such as health care as employment in the region's manufacturing base has eroded.

The economic downturn has made it harder for many people to travel for education and job training, said Charles Lee, a Clarksville resident and a retired president of Mississippi State University who is chairing a fundraising campaign for the Estes Center.

"I don't think anybody would believe that this center is the silver bullet by itself," Lee said. "It is part of the solution to the challenge that faces Southside Virginia."

The center, which holds classes by Southside Virginia Community College but is maintained by the nonprofit Chase City Community Services Inc., needs money to pay for its upkeep and maintenance. The fundraising campaign that started in April to create an endowment for the building has so far raised about 75 percent of a $750,000 goal.

"We operate on a shoestring and have been able to do it with community support," said Dr. Earle Moore, president of the board of Chase City Community Services. "This campaign is really important for us because we don't have the money for anything major," such as repairing the roof on the 34,000-squarefoot center.

"It is really not an option to raise tuition," said Trish Garland, granddaughter of W.W. Estes and a leader in the fundraising campaign.

Like much of Southside Virginia, Mecklenburg County has seen thousands of manufacturing jobs disappear since the 1990s, including a Burlington Industries plant that once employed about 2,000 people. Mecklenburg County's unemployment rate in May was 11.7 percent, and local residents' incomes run about 40 percent below the state average.

Yesterday, Estes Express Lines made a $100,000 donation for the endowment. A $200,000 challenge grant from the Estes family helped create the center in 2000.

"Through the Estes Center, citizens have trained for health and technology professions and have had opportunities for education they never had before," said Rob Estes, president of the company and grandson of the founder, during a ceremony at the center yesterday. "My grandfather would be proud of the spirit and determination of Chase City's residents."

Southside Virginia Community College offers classes at the center in programs such as nursing, phlebotomy, information systems technology, math, science, and cosmetology.

It has several hundred students enrolled most semesters, such as nursing student Danyel McIver, who lost his job in manufacturing last year.

"There are plenty of opportunities out there" in nursing, McIver said. "And I wanted a job helping people."

Visiting the center yesterday, Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling said the state's economic prospects have improved this year and that he expects Southside Virginia to rebound. He called the Estes Center "a great example of a public-private partnership."

"It is giving people the skills they need to go out there and find jobs in what is a very difficult marketplace," Bolling said.