Pioneer Report: Issue 2 Winter 2007

Skilled Worker Shortage

USA Today reported recently that the greatest challenge facing American manufacturers is the ability to find skilled workers. Here in Washington County, good jobs are going unfilled and a rising tidal wave of soon-to-be retiring baby boomers could mean many companies in the Mid Ohio Valley will be facing a skilled labor shortage crisis. For instance, the Mid-Ohio Valley Maintenance Council, a group representing approximately 35 plants, reports that nearly 300 workers will be needed to fill electrical, instrumentation, maintenance, and millwright positions in the next five years. As you might imagine, people with those skills don’t grow on trees. And if plants are not maintained, they don’t run.  Imagine the ramifications.

Additionally, a current shortage of welders is resulting in missed opportunities for all the companies that could be supporting the billions of dollars of investment planned in the power generation industry in the Ohio Valley in the next decade.  But manufacturing is not the only sector being impacted. A tight market is also reported by employers for nurses, accountants, engineers, and construction trades people.

If I didn’t mention a job in your business, don’t feel left out. This is your problem too. The shortage of skilled workers has the potential to badly hurt America by putting more momentum behind the increasing trend of outsourcing work overseas, where countries such as India and China are cranking out skilled workers and revolutionizing their economies. We are talking about the economic health of every business. 

This newsletter is too short to fully explore this topic, so here are some “take-away” items and a call to action:

1.      A high school diploma without career training or further education is probably a one-way ticket to a life trapped in low-wage employment.  Conversely, people with marketable career skills (through vocational certification programs, associates degrees, or bachelor’s degrees) have the ability to step into a lucrative “employees’ market.” (Please share these facts with a young person in your life.)

2.      Not all higher education degrees equal a marketable career skill. (My apologies to some of my sociology-major friends.) Likewise, the ranks of skilled trade people are full of people with college degrees. They often make better money, and some of them earned college credits given for vocational and technical career training.

3.      Workers (even skilled) who can’t consistently show up on time and ready to work or can’t pass a drug test need not apply in today’s work force.

4.      The local Work Force Investment Board, through the guidance of the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority and others will be conducting an employer survey via email to identify jobs that will be available, compensation and skills required in the Mid Ohio Valley in the next five years. The survey will come out in March. Please take the time to complete this survey! This survey will be critical in recruiting and training future skilled employees.

5.      Washington State Community College (374-8716) and the Washington County Career Center (373-6283) offer customized adult training programs. Sometimes grant funds can be found to cover a portion of the training costs. Companies should consider growing their owned skilled employees by doing more training after hiring.

6.      Employers should consider using ACT® WorkKeys skills assessments for jobs they are trying to fill. Work Keys identifies critical skills and can be used as a credentialing tool so that applicants are pre-qualified.  Those unqualified will know what skills they need to compete for jobs in the future. Contact the Adult Technical Training Division of The Washington County Career Center at (740) 373-6283. Workforce initiatives are in place that provide WorkKeys related services at little or no cost to the employer.

7.      Companies that employ college graduates from math, science and engineering fields should consider grooming their potential future hires through internships. The Third Frontier Internship Program can reimburse eligible companies for 50% (up to $3,000 per intern) for math, science, and engineering interns. Contact SeOPA at (740) 373-3233 for more information.

8.      SeOPA has been asked to develop a public relations and marketing plan that would inform job seekers and future job seekers about employment opportunities and how to get the requisite skills for those jobs. Employers interested in this concept should contact Mike Jacoby at (740) 373-3233.

Electricity Deregulation Update

Earlier this decade, Ohio deregulated electric generation. The beliefs were that competition is good for businesses as well as consumers and average prices statewide would be reduced. In southeastern Ohio, particularly in the territory served by Monongahela Power, no competitors emerged to step into an already low-priced market.  So Monongahela, a low-priced producer and the subsidiary of a financially strained parent company, proposed rate increases that reached as high as 80 percent for large industrial users, which had previously negotiated favorable rates based upon their massive consumption. (Small users and consumers would have seen smaller increases.)

Through an active lobbying campaign by businesses, consumers, and our local state legislators, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio persuaded American Electric Power subsidiary Columbus Southern Power to buy Monongahela Power’s system in Washington County. Under a price stabilization plan crafted with PUCO oversight, customers did see their rates go up but not nearly as high as Monongahela Power had proposed.

Unfortunately, at the end of 2008, the rate stabilization period will end, and unless state authorities intervene, more rate increases are likely. For energy intensive industries, who have typically located in this area because of historically inexpensive power, these cost increases can be devastating. Another public lobbying campaign is needed to prevent runaway costs. Concerned businesses can contact the Industrial Energy Users of Ohio by calling Tom Froehle at (614) 719-2850 or learn more at www.ieu-ohio.org/public.

Annual Report 2006

The Southeastern Ohio Port Authority’s Annual Report for 2006 is now available. If you would like to read the report, or if you would like to download or print a copy for your use, please click Annual Report 2006 and you will be redirected.

Brownfield Assessment Workshop

Property owners, developers, bankers, realtors, and attorneys considering the redevelopment of properties potentially contaminated by petroleum products are encouraged to attend a Brownfield Assessment Informational Workshop at 5:30 p.m. March 15^th at Buckeye Hills-Hocking Valley Regional Development District Office, Newport Pike, Reno OH 45773. Call 740-374-9436 for directions. 

Attendees will learn about grant funds available via the U.S. EPA to conduct phase one and phase two environmental assessments. The assessments can determine if any petroleum contamination exists and to what extent. Because petroleum products in the ground can present environmental liabilities that inhibit redevelopment and hurt property values, assessments are often a prerequisite on sites where environmental contamination is possible. Buyers, lenders and developers typically want a phase one assessment (via a record search) and sometimes phase two assessments (via soil testing) before commercial purchases of suspect sites. 

Attendees are under no obligation by being present at the informational workshop. Property owners can set up independent, confidential consultations after the workshop if they have an interest in utilizing the grant money for assessments.

The U.S. EPA has provided $200,000 to the Southeastern Ohio Port Authority for the environmental assessments. The port authority is hoping to provide a spark for the redevelopment of old gas stations or other potentially contaminated properties. Buckeye Hills – Hocking Valley Regional Development District is administering the grant funds. The port authority and Buckeye Hills hope to conduct at least eight phase one studies and four phase two assessments on private properties in Washington County. KEMRON Environmental Services has been selected as the firm to conduct the assessments.

KEMRON Environmental Services, Inc. is an environmental consulting, remediation, and analytical services firm, employing over 100 staff in Marietta, Ohio. Since its founding in 1975, KEMRON has successfully executed hundreds of projects involving the assessment, testing, analysis, and site cleanup for both the government and private industry. KEMRON has managed contracts for the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Navy, the US Postal Service, US Air Force, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and multiple businesses and manufacturing clients.  KEMRON is regarded by each of our government and private industry clients as a leader in the environmental consulting and remediation field. KEMRON is headquartered in Vienna, VA with offices in Atlanta, GA; San Antonio, TX; Charleston, WV; Marietta and Cleveland, OH; Philadelphia, PA; Chicago, IL, Chattanooga, TN; and Tacoma, WA. 

For more information on the Brownfield Assessment Program, please contact Melissa Zoller of Buckeye Hills at (740) 374-9436.