The Will County Workforce Center, a hub of services that range from job searches to career advancement to resume writing, has moved into a new office in Joliet.

Partners that support the center this week celebrated the opening of the new facility at 1300 Copperfield Ave.

The center, which provides job and career services to hundreds of people a month, is now in a county-owned building on the former Silver Cross Hospital campus.

It’s been there since the end of February, having moved from its former location on Glenwood Avenue in Joliet. But a ribbon-cutting for the new offices was held Monday.

“Over the past year, we worked intentionally to strengthen how we serve our community,” center Director Michelle Stiff said at the ceremony.

Stiff also is director of the Workforce Services Division of Will County, which, she noted, has opened 14 kiosk locations around the county to provide satellite services away from the Workforce Center.

“We expanded our reach to place kiosks throughout Will County to ensure our services extend well beyond Joliet to the communities that need them most,” Stiff said.

Services also include career counseling, skills assessment and workshops.

Kiosks are located in several libraries and other locations where people seeking job services may encounter them.

The new Copperfield Avenue location for the Workforce Center may also make services more accessible, said Caroline Portlock, director of the Workforce Investment Board of Will County.

The board, a group that develops local workforce strategies, is among nearly a dozen partners involved with the Workforce Center.

Portlock noted that the center now is near the Joliet Veterans Affairs Clinic, also on the former Silver Cross Hospital campus, and is in the same building as the Veterans Assistance Commission (VAC) of Will County.

Job help for veterans, Portlock said, is “one of our priority services.”

The county recently moved the VAC offices into the building on Copperfield Avenue.

Both services were moved from a Glenwood Avenue building, where the county leased space, into larger quarters.

The Workforce Center occupies 16,000 square feet on Copperfield Avenue, which compares to 12,000 square feet it had on Glenwood.

The number of people who visited the new offices for services in March was 1,044, Portlock said. That was up from 838 in January, the last full month when the Glenwood Avenue offices were open.

Will County unemployment hovers around 4%, Portlock said.

That’s in the range of what’s considered an ideal rate for a healthy economy. But Portlock said there are segments of the workforce being left out despite the relatively low unemployment rate.

“That’s not taking into consideration some of the untapped talent,” she said. “If you look at unemployment among African-American men, that’s a double-digit number. If you look at disabled workers, that’s in double digits.”

There is no cost for services at the Workforce Center regardless of whether the client is working or not.

“It could be someone who’s looking for employment,” said Elizabeth Gonzalez, chair of the Workforce Investment Board of Will County. “It could be an established worker. It could be 18- to 20-year-olds who are not sure what they want to do.”

Will County Executive Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant noted that “all the work” at the center is federally funded “and thankfully there is bipartisan support” for the program.

The roomier Workforce Center on Copperfield Avenue also provides space for hiring events.

Lisa Markusic, career pathway coordinator at the center, talked about some of the services it provides while giving a tour of the new facility.

She pointed to silent rooms that job-seekers can use for Zoom interviews with potential employers or private meetings with career counselors.

The center also hosts hiring events where job-seekers can meet face-to-face with employers.

The next job fair at the center is 2-5 p.m. on May 21.

“We want any job seekers to come to our hiring events,” Markusic said.