Marion County jobs agency helps cover training costs

MARION – A company for which Marion County Job and Family Services secured funding to help cover its training costs has added employees, Ron Meade, OhioMeansJobs Marion County administrator said.

Officials for Job and Family Services recently presented a check for $64,436.57 to representatives of Bradley Corp., reimbursing the company for the cost of training approximately 100 people, Meade said.

In late 2013, as the Wisconsin-based Bradley Corp., headquartered in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, considered whether to consolidate its Upper Sandusky facility employees in The Mills Co. in Marion Industrial Center or close the Marion and Upper Sandusky facilities and move the work to a Wisconsin facility, Roxane Somerlot, Marion County Job and Family Services director, pledged $120,000 in funding assistance.

Somerlot used a federal exception the state of Ohio obtained, allowing funding typically used to help train people who’ve been laid off to be used to train current employees to avoid a layoff. The state said that JFS could cover up to 50 percent of the training costs, Meade said. JobsOhio provided another $30,000 toward the training.

The company consolidated in Marion to improve the efficiency in adjusting to changes in sales volume levels and customer needs, a company spokeswoman said at the time. The funding assistance for training, as well as the flexibility of operating in a leased space in Marion Industrial Center, were key in the company’s decision.

About 43 employees moved from the Upper Sandusky facility to the Marion operation, which employed 37. The site manufactures plastic partitions and lockers.

Meade said the amount reimbursed ended up being less because the company did less training than it originally planned.

“Approximately 100 people got some type of training,” he said. All received certificates in Lean Six Sigma, a program that focuses on maximizing customer value while minimizing waste.

He said the consolidation in Marion was an “example of how a team came together and put a plan in place to show Bradley, ‘Hey, we want to keep you here. You’re part of our community. Here’s what we can do to help you do that.’”

“Their workforce has grown, too,” he said. “I think they’ve grown by 15 to 20.”

Efforts by OhioMeansJobs Marion County, part of JFS, to assist employers in Marion County continues, he said.

Meade’s office processed and assessed 177 applicants seeking jobs with Union Tank Car, which in June announced it’s expanding to a second facility, on Cheney Avenue, and will create 200 jobs over the next three years.

Kelly Bates, Marion County JFS manager, said, “We’re working with them now. They’re trying to get 25 general labor (employees) in place, as well as 25 welders.”

jjarvis@marionstar.com

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Twitter: @jmwjarvis