State Begins Mass Unemployment Claim Sessions

Overwhelmed by increasing demand, the state’s labor department will begin group sessions Thursday to help Tennesseans make unemployment claims.

The agency’s phone lines have been tied up for months. Administrator Melinda Williams says the mass sessions should relieve some stress on the unemployment call center, as well as the stress of people waiting on hold.

“We’re continuing to get large companies that are laying off, and it’s a very trying time for all, so we’re just trying to make it better for the employers who are dealing with their losses, and particularly, those that have lost their jobs.”

Williams says the mass sessions are restricted to workers who have been recently laid off. While most career centers can accommodate 30 applicants at a time, Williams says she expects overflow crowds at first.

The mass claim sessions are at 8:30 am and 1:30 pm – first come, first serve.

The 22 participating career centers in the state are:

Athens – 410 Congress Parkway

Bristol – 1712 West State Street

Chattanooga – 5600 Brainerd Road, Suite A-5

Clarksville – Veterans Plaza, 350 Pageant Lane, Suite 406

Columbia – 119 Nashville Highway, Suite 106, Northway Shopping Center

Cookeville – 3300 Williams Enterprise Drive

Crossville – 60 Ridley Street

Dyersburg – 439 McGaughey Street

Gallatin – 175 College Street

Humboldt – 1481 Mullins Street

Jacksboro – 1016 Main Street

Jackson – 362 Carriage House Drive

Johnson City – 2515 Wesley Street

Knoxville – 1610 University Avenue

Lawrenceburg – 702 Mahr Avenue

McMinnville – 107 Lyon Street

Murfreesboro – 1313 Old Fort Parkway

Nashville – 2200 Rosa L. Parks Blvd. (previously Metro Center Blvd.)

Paris – 1023 Mineral Wells Avenue, Suite F

Rogersville – 1112 East Main Street

Talbott/Morristown – 6057 W. Andrew Johnson Highway, Alpha Square, Suite A

Tullahoma – 111 East Lincoln Street