NEWS

County, educators helping businesses find workers

Jeff Barron
Reporter
Nathan Taulbee, a senior at Canal Winchester High School, works on a mock house Tuesday at the Fairfield Career Center in Carroll. Taulbee is a student in the construction technology program at the school.

LANCASTER – Help wanted.

Several local business owners recently told the Eagle-Gazette they are having trouble finding qualified employees to fill positions. Fairfield County Economic Director Bob Clark acknowledged that happens, but said there are several places where potential employees can gain the necessary skills.

"We have heard that in touring some of the businesses and getting out and about and realizing they're having some skilled labor shortage issues," he said. "So we're attacking this several different ways. Some things are going to be more long-term and some things can maybe be done in a little bit more shorter-term type solutions."

The solutions

Clark said he has been involved with the longer-term solutions by bringing representatives from Ohio University Lancaster, Eastland-Fairfield Career Center, the city's vocational program and the Fairfield County Educational Service Center together. He said they have discussed what programs they and how they could better offer what employers are looking for.

"We've had some great meetings in putting this together and figuring out some career pathways of who's going to service what students and different things like that," Clark said.

He said the county has also sent a survey to 54 businesses in the county about what they are looking for when hiring employees. The results will eventually be shared with educators to better train workers.

The county also uses the Fairfield County Workforce Development Training Grant, which can reimburse employers for training costs like books, manuals or to pay the salaries of in-house trainers. Reimbursement is based on the number of jobs created, but the grant to an individual business can be as much as $50,000. Clark said some companies are willing to offer on-the-job training.

Finding the Right Employees

Mike Miller is the business services manager for the county Job and Family Services agency. The agency works with Ohio Means Jobs and offers a variety of services, including recruitment events, statewide job postings, job search resources, training and education services and career advising, among other things. He said he has also been asking employers what they need when looking for new workers.

"The biggest thing is, obviously, qualified candidates," Miller said. "And that could be in the office, it could be in the warehouse."

He said for some reason, there are not a lot of job seekers who attend the various job fairs, which makes it even harder for companies to find good workers. Miller said a lack of transportation among employees and workers who quit two weeks after getting hired are additional frustrations for employers.

"We've talked to different employers from three or four people to bigger companies, and it's almost the same thing all the time," Miller said. "Right now, people are just looking for good employees."

He said the characteristics that make up a good employee include the ability to learn, show up on time and work hard.

Clark said a reason for the lack of qualified factory workers may be that some potential workers have seen family members lose their jobs and may not want anything to do with manufacturing. Therefore, they may choose to get a four-year college degree instead.

College alternative

But there are alternatives to the traditional four-year college degree.

Several companies look to the Eastland-Fairfield Career Center for employees, including Cleveland Construction. Juniors and seniors can complete the construction technologies program before entering the company's four-year carpentry apprentice program called "The Other Four-Year Degree." By entering in high school they can shave off a year and compete the apprenticeship in three years after leaving high school.

Cleveland Construction's Jeff Randall said the company is looking for "the cream of the crop" when hiring.

Daniel Ownby, left, a Canal Winchester High School student, and Brody Tonelotti, a Teays Valley High School student, shingle the roof of a mock house Tuesday at the Fairfield Career Center in Carroll. Ownby and Tonelotti are students in the construction technology program at the school.

"In this specific field we like students who have gone through a career center because they're taught specifics about the construction industry or what we need in good employees.," Randall said.

"We like the students that have experience, especially the ones that have graduated from high school and are not going on to a traditional four-year college. We have had so much more success with the students that have come in from the career centers and programs such as this because of the skill set they've already gained."

Instructor Bob Jones said students are taught every aspect of construction, including safety, teamwork and how to properly use about 80 tools. They are given both classroom instruction and lab work in several on-site house models.

Danny Ownby is a junior from Canal Winchester. He is in the construction class and will enter the Cleveland Construction apprentice program this summer and get paid for it.

"I'll get a full 40-hour work week," Ownby said. "They count the hours and they count it toward the four-year apprenticeship. After the end of four years you get higher pay and you're ranked over some of the employees just coming in."

Jones said the average starting salary for someone completing the Cleveland Construction apprentice program in central Ohio is about $45,000.

"So these students could be done, if they started now in high school, by the age of 21, making $40,000, $45,000 a year and no student loans," Jones said.

He said a construction site superintendent can make about $80,000 per year.

But Jones said a lot of parents don't know that such an opportunity could await their child and instead insist on them going to a four-year college.

Looking at the future

"I think the world is evolving and it's changing and we're moving away from manufacturing jobs of just pure, common labor," Clark said. "Most of that has been automated and most of it is being done by machines. And to run those machines are the high-tech, the people that need to be trained on computer-numerical-control (CNC). So it takes some expertise and some technical knowledge."

He said there seems to be a breakdown in getting young people to realize those jobs can pay up to $70,000 a year. Clark said jobs like a CNC operator are the manufacturing jobs of the future.

"Because the new companies that are going to come here are bringing this advance manufacturing," he said. "That's what's being re-shored from China and from some of the other low-cost countries. They don't want 400 people standing around moving two bottles at a time over to this package. They want to see that they're going to be able to run their machine and know if they break down somebody will be able to fix it and get them back and running. All of that is the future of manufacturing, the future of the workforce that we need to look at developing."

He said the communities that figure that out will be the ones that attract new companies.

Daniel Ownby, left, a Canal Winchester High School student, and Brody Tonelotti, a Teays Valley High School student, shingle the roof of a mock house Tuesday at the Fairfield Career Center in Carroll. Ownby and Tonelotti are students in the construction technology program at the school.

"And the ones that don't are going to have a real tough time getting anybody in because they're not investing $30 million, $40 million, $50 million in a brand-new plant and have nobody to work," Clark said.

Along with schools and career centers, Miller said he networks with other counties to help companies find those workers who will do well with the technology of today and the future.

"I may call someone and say that I've got a company that's looking for a production supervisor with these qualifications," he said. "'If you have anybody, let me know.' So we're doing, basically, networking for companies that might not have the time, they might not have the personnel to do it. So as we go out and engage these companies, it's, 'What do you want us to do?' 'What do you need from us?'"

Miller said that often leads to a job description or a plan for future hiring.

jbarron@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4340

Twitter: @JeffDBarron