Pete McDonald

DALTON, Ga. -- North Georgia career centers and technical colleges have experienced a trickle rather than a flood of Volkswagen applicants, officials say.

Pete McDonald, vice president of economic development for Georgia Northwestern Technical College, said early Friday that fewer than 100 applicants had used the labs available at the college's three campuses last week.

"With the level of unemployment we have in North Georgia, I'd thought we'd have a lot more people," said Mr. McDonald.

Volkswagen began accepting online applications last week for 1,200 production jobs at its Chattanooga assembly plant. Some colleges and career centers in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee have computers available for job applicants and also have extended hours so people without home Internet access may apply.

Mr. McDonald said college officials originally thought people might end up waiting in line to use one of the 20 computers available in each lab. They even had extra security in place, he said.

"We were trying to get prepared to deal with a large number of people showing up in a very short period of time, but that never happened," he said.

But, the locations could have "a huge surge right at the end," he said.

"These are good jobs," Mr. McDonald said. "They're good pay with benefits."

Danny Cope, manager of the Georgia of Department of Labor's Dalton Career Center, said only about 30 people have completed VW applications.

"It just goes to show, even with the economy the way it is, everybody's still got that Internet (at home)," he said.

On Friday, Drew McNeese, 23, of Kennesaw, Ga., stopped by the Northwest Georgia Career Center in Fort Oglethorpe to see about unemployment benefits. While there, he said he learned how to apply for Volkswagen jobs but intends to complete his application on a computer at home.

"If there's going to be a good job opportunity like this, I'd like to take a hold of it," he said.

Al Abernathy, manager of the Fort Oglethorpe center, said workers there had helped more than 100 residents apply for Volkswagen by the end of the day Thursday.

"I think ... a lot of it has to do with our proximity, being a little closer (to the plant)," he said.

Roger Wilson, employment representative with the Fort Payne, Ala., Career Center, said his office also has helped about 100 applicants. And there have been others at its mobile unit in Bridgeport, Ala., and at Northeast Alabama Community College, he said.

Andrea Witt, coordinator at the Tennessee Career Center at Chattanooga, said about 500 people have applied.

Pam Dickey, assistant manager with Tri-County Job Link Career Center in Murphy, N.C., said about four people completed applications. But, she said, "as word gets out, we may see an increase in interest."