Palmer's Job Corps Center To Close

Job Corps Facilities To Shut Down In A Month 

Nevertheless, U.S. Secretary Of Commerce Has Set A "Model" For The Next Three Generations Of Americans...  Factory Work 

(Photo, U.S. Department of Labor website) 

The Don Young Job Corps Center in Palmer is on its way to closure due to a government-led "pausing" of operations there. The Frontiersman, a Mat-Su newspaper, reported on the decision by the U.S. Government's Department of Labor on May 30th, 2025. 

Palmer's center is not the only one. Apparently, all "contractor-operated Job Corps centers" will cease operations by the end of June. 

The head of the Palmer center, Bobbie Irvin, is reported in the Frontiersman as saying, "This is going to have a huge impact on the students, the community and the state." Promotional sites and images of the Job Corps center in action shows young people learning a wide variety of practical work skills, including cooking and serving.  

The administration in Washington has spent the last few weeks expressing its irritation with America's higher education by taking funding away from major universities, most notably Harvard, but also other universities and colleges around America. 

For example, on May 27th, the University of Alaska reported that the administration had suspended $50 million in grants to Alaska's universities, and that staff cuts were expected.

To replace the loss of government and higher-end jobs, the administration apparently intends to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. from foreign countries. This would require Americans to acquire new manual skills and an acceptance of this type of lifework. 

On May 26th, 2025, the President said he specifically wanted to shift grant money from Harvard itself to trade schools: 

"I am considering taking three billion dollars of grant money... and giving it to TRADE SCHOOLS."  -- Donald J. Trump 

In April, Trump administration Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick gave his idea of what the future of "work" in America would be. It is not work as a scientist, a scholar, an administrator, or someone requiring a university education. 

It's factory work.

The Commerce Secretary described his favored view of America's future in factories  – the "new model".  He said: 

“This is the new model, where you work in these kind of plants for the rest of your life, and your kids work here, and your grandkids work here."