Just two nights ago, President Obama told the nation 2010 will be the year for jobs.

Friday night, over 100 Brown Mackie College graduates heard that message again from a local leader. Phil Damico, Director of Community and Economic Development at the St. Joe County Chamber of Commerce says they are now in a perfect position to set the stage for success.

Hearing her name, “Amy Donaldson,” then, walking across the stage to get her diploma in practical nursing has been the moment she's been waiting for.

Donaldson says, “Seeing there is a shortage of nurses, I wanted to pursue nursing because I knew it would be better opportunities for jobs.”

This is Donaldson's second time at Brown Mackie College. She completed the medical assisting program in 2008. She then decided to further her education because of the struggling economy.

A first time college student in her 40's, Lavonne Lundquist, says she pushed herself to make some life changes and she's proud.

Lundquist says “The newspaper started to have less jobs and more homes for sale and started to alarm me and I always wanted to go back to school and it seemed like a good time.”

Damico says the time is now for our area.

He says, “The key to a community's success today lies with you, the graduates. It lies with education. It's interesting because Innovation Park is going to bring a lot of research and development, so there's going to be a lot in the medical field, the healthcare field. There's going to be a lot in the IT field as well.”

Damico also told the graduates, “Folks, we need to be tech savvy.”

Lundquist, who now has her Associate of Science in Paralegal Studies says she couldn't agree more.

Lundquist says, “I started to feel left behind. I wanted to make sure I kept my skills up, so I could keep up. I'd rather be looking for a job with a degree than without because the competition is fierce.