A Columbus businessman’s offer to hire out-of-work Lawrence Countians sparked a local work force recruitment team plan at Thursday’s county commission meeting – and a call for help from mayors, village councils, trustees, clerks and local development agencies.

Friday, January 28, 2000

A Columbus businessman’s offer to hire out-of-work Lawrence Countians sparked a local work force recruitment team plan at Thursday’s county commission meeting – and a call for help from mayors, village councils, trustees, clerks and local development agencies.

The plan would center on not one recruiter but a team of government leaders from around the county who would join forces to visit prospective industries and lure them here, said Ohio Workforce Policy Board member Kyle McKnight of Coal Grove.

"Let’s put politics aside and see what we can do," commission member George Patterson said.

McKnight, who works with the governor-created board, said an article in The Columbus Dispatch this week prompted his idea.

Ken Halloy, of All Pro Exclusive in the suburb of Westerville, said this week he can find jobs at home improvement companies for county workers made jobless by Cabletron’s closure and Ironton Iron’s impending shutdown.

Halloy also has offered Lawrence County a $2,000 promotional ad in a home improvement guide. He said the guide will reach about 350,000 households in Columbus. The ad will aid the county’s push for new jobs.

McKnight said that news made him wonder why the county’s local governments cannot sponsor aggressive marketing to find businesses that want to locate here.

"And if we have leads on some of these companies, maybe we can go as a team to talk to them," he said. "The chamber (of commerce) does a good job, but we have gifted people in this area and I would like to see the county put together a team."

The team could seek out large industries and try marketing the area for piecemeal jobs, too, McKnight said.

For example, a Columbus industrial executive complained once that one section of his plant was losing money because pay rates for such a small part topped $25 an hour.

"I said bring it to us and we’ll do it for $17 an hour," McKnight said. "He said, ‘Will they take $17 an hour?’ I said, ‘Of course they’ll take $17 an hour.’"

Lawrence County has an excellent workforce that could produce light work for large companies and then ship that work back to them.

It might only create 100 jobs at a time but it could get a foot in several companies’ doors, and put the county on the way to having a dozen companies of 100 workers, surpassing the 1,000-job loss expected by February, McKnight said.

"Let’s go to these companies and say, ‘Hey, what part of your company work can we do in Lawrence County and save you money?’"

Once recruitment succeeds, it will attract even more attention to Lawrence County, McKnight said.

"It’s taking a piece of the pie one bite at a time," he said. "I’d like to see us put our heads together and be a little more aggressive."

Patterson favored the idea because it would put clerks, trustees, mayors and others together in the same room with the county, Ohio University Southern Campus, the Lawrence Economic Development Corporation and the Ironton Lawrence County Community Action Organization.

"We’ve got a sales tax that feeds the budget, so this loss of jobs affects the whole county," he said, adding that ideas will flourish with a team concept.

"If a business goes to South Point, it helps Ironton, Coal Grove, Aid Let’s work together and see what we can get."

Commissioner Paul Herrell favored aggressive marketing because it brings in work and doesn’t ship it to other counties.

"If they want us to send our workforce out, I don’t want to talk to them," Herrell said, reacting to the Halloy’s announcement.

And, there’s no reason why recent Jackson manufacturing jobs can’t be brought here instead of asking the county to find ways of transporting workers there, he said.

The county already supports the chamber’s marketing and budget, but mobilizing a government recruitment team would be an asset to entice companies to relocate, commission president Bruce Trent said.

"The next thing we need to do is share this idea and plan a meeting to formalize it," he said.

Commissioners agreed to write letters to all mayors, trustees and other officials, as well as the chamber, LEDC, OUSC and the CAO.

"Let’s move this idea forward, then we need to act," Trent said.