Rural counties often face unique challenges. For example, they might find it more difficult to educate and train a qualified workforce. That has been true in Amador County which has been struggling with two different but related issues. Amador does not have a Community College Campus and it is no coincidence that the County Behavioral Health Department could not find enough people with the right certification to work as mental health technicians.

Most people earn their certificate at a community college and with no campus in Amador, there was no place nearby for people to get the education and training they needed. Amador County was also noticing a “brain drain.” People who wanted a higher education, in any field, had to go someplace else to get it. Many who left didn’t come back. County leaders created a Community College Foundation to lay the groundwork for local campus, but that’s a long-term proposition and they had an immediate need.