WALHALLA — A Tri-County Technical College official said Thursday that a new QuickJobs Center could be up and running in Oconee County by early next year.

The new facility will be built on the grounds of the Hamilton Career Center in Seneca and be staffed and operated by Tri-County Technical College.

Bids to build the 4,600-square-foot facility, which will hold two classrooms and laboratory space, are due by Tuesday at 2 p.m. at the Oconee County Procurement Office.

John Lummus, vice president of economic development for Tri-County Tech, said he anticipates the construction process to take six to eight months.

“We’re hoping to be ready to operate by the first quarter of 2010,” Lummus said.

The QuickJobs Center will teach new skills to those unemployed or underemployed.

Lummus, with the help of Oconee County Economic Development Commission Director Jim Alexander, applied in the summer of 2007 for a portion of $6 million in grant money available statewide to launch a QuickJobs Center.

As one of nine counties without a technical college, Oconee was eligible for grant money. In January 2008, the state notified Oconee that it had been awarded $983,000.

Interim Oconee County Administrator Kendra Brown said Oconee is acting as a “pass through” for the grant, and that Tri-County Tech is providing a 10 percent match for the money. She said the Appalachian Council of Governments is administering the grant.

Lummus said the QuickJobs Center would have the space to train up to 100 students at one time. He said Tri-County Tech has yet to decide how much staff to allocate to the center.

Oconee Procurement Director Robyn Courtright said that 29 contractors participated in a mandatory pre-bid conference at her office June 2.

The South Carolina Department of Commerce announced Thursday that it would provide $4 million to the state Technical College System’s QuickJobs Carolina initiative. The money is part of the state’s portion of the Workforce Investment Act allocation in the federal economic stimulus program.

QuickJobs Centers offer courses in high demand industry areas with focus on advanced manufacturing, construction trades, energy, health care and transportation and logistics.