Unemployed and underemployed Dawson County residents interested in enhancing job skills through continuing their education are encouraged to attend a program offered Thursday by the Georgia Mountains Workforce Development Center at Rock Creek Park.

Sessions designed to give attendees information on services available through the workforce development center will be held at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Eligibility to receive assistance from the Workforce Development Act of 1998 will also be discussed.

The act provides educational funding and training to eligible adults 18 years and older who are seeking to enhance their current skills, learn a new trade or obtain their General Education Diploma.

While assistance has been available through the center for several years, this is the first year staff has offered the overviews in the individual communities, according to Intake Assistant Dawn Bruce.

"This is a new way to get the word out that funding is available," she said.

The Georgia Mountains Workforce Development Center is a division of the 13-county Georgia Mountains Regional Commission.

Individuals applying for assistance must either live or work, or have worked, in the 13-county region to qualify.

The commission serves Banks, Dawson, Forsyth, Franklin, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Lumpkin, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union and White counties.

For more information or to register for the program, call (770) 538-2727.