LIMESTONE – Training and Development Corp., the Bucksport firm that has run the Loring Job Corps Center for the past five years, has been awarded a $14 million contract to operate the facility for another term, according to an announcement by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins.

“Now we can move forward,” Eunice Johnson, director of the Limestone program, said Monday. “It’s been in a holding pattern for three months.”

The contract renewal by the U.S. Department of Labor was expected by June 1. Because of personnel changes at the regional office level and a reorganization of programs at the Limestone center, however, the contract awarding was delayed, Johnson said.

The center has reorganized its method of instruction into a team teaching approach that TDC refers to as “works enterprise teams.”

Johnson explained that the students’ vocation subjects, such as cooking or welding, and the academic work, such as English or math, will be integrated.

“The learning will be done by doing,” Johnson said.

As a result of the new learning approach, all teaching positions are being advertised internally as well as in the local media. Not many people already employed at Job Corps, however, are expected to lose their jobs.

“We’re asking our staff to apply for positions they’re qualified for,” said Johnson.

The team design, which was developed by TDC, also is being utilized at the Penobscot Job Corps Center in Bangor. TDC was awarded a contract for that facility last October.

“This is a marvelous development for both TDC and the Loring Job Corps Center,” said Collins, regarding the awarding of the contract.

“TDC has met the challenges of establishing a new Job Corps center with professionalism, and during its five years of hard work, has created a Job Corps center in which the U.S. Department of Labor can take great pride,” said Collins in a prepared statement.TDC has created a program at the Loring Job Corps Center that teaches vital work force skills and the importance of community service, Collins said.

The current student population is at 340 students, down from the capacity amount of 380. Johnson said that the center has mounted a “massive” advertising campaign in Aroostook County to boost enrollment.Johnson said it was the good economy, where young people are working and are not in need of developing a skill in order to find employment, that has contributed to the decrease.