Sacramento Coca-Cola employees who got word Wednesday that their Stockton Boulevard plant is closing are now eligible for job training and placement services through a nearly $6 million state grant announced earlier in the week.

Hundreds of workers at a number of Sacramento employers, including Campbell Soup, Comcast, Raley's and others who lost jobs in mass layoffs are the focus of Sacramento Employment and Training Agency's Sacramento Works Lay-Off Assistance grant. The grant money will pay for retraining at local community colleges, vocational schools and area businesses.

With the news that Coca-Cola plans to shutter the 60-employee Stockton Boulevard plant, SETA added Coke workers to the eligible list on Friday, said SETA spokeswoman Terri Carpenter.

"All of the things we will be doing as far as retraining, we would be offering to Coca- Cola employees as well," Carpenter said.

Workers can call the Lay-Off Assistance program's information line at (916) 263-4066 or visit a Sacramento Works One-Stop Career Center for more information, Carpenter said.

Visit sacramentoworks.org for a list of career centers.

The grant's aim is to help dislocated workers upgrade their skills and transition to a variety of occupations. That includes career counseling and classroom occupational training; computer literacy and language skills instruction; on-the-job training, and support services.

"Workers today must be adaptable, and ready to develop additional skills and abilities that command good wages in new and emerging fields," SETA officials said in announcing the grant award.

It's not known precisely when the plant will close, Coca-Cola officials said. Talks between the soft drink maker and bargaining unit Teamsters Local 150 will determine when the plant will close for good and what separation and other transition help will be needed, said Coke spokeswoman Corby Casler.

In the meantime, Casler said, human resources staffers are meeting with Coca-Cola plant employees to answer questions and direct them to other opportunities in the company.

Coca-Cola's Natomas administrative and distribution offices and its Modesto distribution facility will not be affected by the announced closure, officials said.

Learn social media

Learn how to use social media to assist your job search at a seminar Wednesday at Sacramento Public Library in North Natomas.

The 1 p.m. hands-on workshop, by Sacramento Public Library and Sacramento Professional Network, shows how to build your LinkedIn presence, discusses the importance of joining LinkedIn groups, and helps users understand differences between LinkedIn and other social media.

North Natomas Library is at 4660 Via Ingoglia, Sacramento. For more information, visit saclibrary.org or call the Sacramento Public Library at (916) 264-2920.

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Is your company hiring? Is your organization hosting a career fair? Starting a networking group?

Contact Job Front at dvsmith@sacbee.com.

Call The Bee's Darrell Smith, (916) 321-1040.

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