U.S. Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez traveled to Memphis on Wednesday to visit the Benjamin L. Hooks Job Corps Center and wish Job Corps a happy 50th birthday. Secretary Perez toured the center, which is operated by MINACT, Inc., and spent time with students and graduates including a recent carpentry graduate whom he visited at the Krogers where she is employed and completing projects while enrolled in her United Brotherhood of Carpenters apprenticeship program.

After being introduced by Memphis Mayor A.C. Wharton, Secretary Perez lauded the staff and students of the Hooks Center for their high performance and for continuing the legacy of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and the late Dr. Benjamin L. Hooks, the civil rights pioneer after whom the center is named.

“Every single person in this room — every single person who comes through a Job Corps center — is gifted and talented,” Perez said. “It is up to us to draw out those gifts and talents.”

The visit coincided with the Department tweeting President Obama’s statement celebrating Job Corps and the other programs that were created as part of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964. To view the letter, visit: https://twitter.com/USDOL/status/502176497608982529.