Pre-Employment Training

A major piece of the Unity difference is its ability to create dynamic partnerships that deliver the best of all possible benefits to all parties. Unity Homes, Inc. has been extremely fortunate to develop such a partnership with Pearl River Community College (PRCC), Workforce Investment Act (WIA) and the Mississippi State Employment Security Commission and its Job Center in Columbia.

Unity Homes Production Facility SketchPearl River Community College has agreed to customize and integrate a green modular home building curriculum into its established training efforts to assist Unity Homes in training workers in green modular housing construction and installation. Pearl River Community College serves over 3,800 students from six counties stretching from Marion County to the Gulf Coast. Unity Homes’ job training programs will be located at facilities in Columbia as well as Pearl River Community College’s Advanced Technology Center in Hattiesburg. Through industry specific curricula, Unity Homes’ employees will learn a variety of electrical, mechanical, computer technology and construction-related skills. We anticipate our initial training programs will begin approximately two months prior to the factory opening. Many graduates of this jointly-designed training will gain employment with Unity Homes; others will bring their healthy home construction skills into other building and rebuilding efforts.

Training for workers at Unity Homes' manufacturing facility will be job specific and will be provided locally, remotely and/or at a site outside of the local area. As part of our superior partnership with Pearl River Community College, the majority of the training expenses will be born by the college. The majority of the job specific and pre-employment training will be at Unity Homes' factory location with the college providing temporary space until the facility is completed.

The following training classes are offered by PRCC and will be integrated with Unity Homes’ industry specific curriculum:

• Welding
• Construction
• CDL Truck Driving
• Heavy Equipment Operation
• Electrical
• Mechanical
• HVAC
• Plumbing
• Spanish
• OSHA
• Computer classes
• AutoCAD technology
• First Responder

Pearl River Community College will arrange training programs both in their Hattiesburg Advanced Technology center and in community facilities, such as the local high school, in Columbia. PRCC will train on job specific skills as required by Unity Homes. If the college provides the instructor, they will pay them. If Unity Homes has the expert, the college will reimburse the costs. The college also offers a “train the trainer” program, which can pay travel expenses for Unity Homes leads (such as production floor managers) to attend educational seminars or to learn how to operate equipment and software from vendors.

The local community is excited about the ancillary benefits of this program, to not only serve Unity’s production needs, but also to develop a workforce well versed in healthy home construction. The value of introducing green building to Mississippi will aid in the broader rebuilding of the hurricane-damaged region as well as the creation of well-paid jobs with benefits.