The Hub in the small town of Hartford in rural Ohio County is a co-working space, business incubator and training site. After getting a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to train eight county residents, at no cost to them, in a $12,000 coding boot camp, The Hub has a second offering - a chance to be trained as a virtual assistant, also at no cost to the residents. The deadline to apply is April 7.
A virtual assistant is someone who manages an office remotely, doing tasks like bookkeeping, scheduling appointments, research or posting products online for e-commerce.
Chase Vincent is Executive Director of the Ohio County Economic Development Alliance. He said he’s already seen the success of that career happen at The Hub.
“The idea actually came about ‘cuz we have a citizen here in Ohio County that came to me that does virtual assistance, does bookkeeping for a firm in New York City, has other clients across the country. Until that I didn’t realize how big this sector of the economy was,” said Vincent.
He said that person, who began at The Hub, has hired three employees and moved to larger office space.
The Hub has $10,000 allocated to cover training as a virtual assistant for 14 Ohio County residents.
“The purpose of The Hub is to tap people into remote work opportunities and offer business assistance, and virtual assistant seemed like a good first step for anyone wanting to get into a remote work field,” said Vincent.
The application is online at www.ohiocounty.com/training. There’s also a link on the Ohio County Economic Development Alliance Facebook page.
The virtual assistant training program will require about 20 hours per week and will take 8-10 weeks to complete. Applicants must have a high school diploma and be residents of Ohio County.
The vision for bringing 21st Century training opportunities to local residents gained ground when the Ohio County bought the building for $100,000.
The building was renovated with a $100,000 Rural Development grant from the USDA. The Hub opened in July 2017.
Another USDA grant for $99,000 allowed The Hub to offer the 10-month coding boot camp to eight residents. That program is currently in progress and runs through September.
