New on the endangered list?
Ditch diggers. Mechanics. Certified finishers.
Story and Photos by JEFF KEELING • Press Business Writer
“Work force woes.” “Hidden work force.” “Work force separates the winners from the losers.” Area employers and economic development recruiters may sound like a broken record when discussing the need for more and better-trained workers, but they would love to be singing a different tune. From the best-funded recruiters trying to attract major companies to small business owners in construction and trades, “work force” continually surfaces among things that keep them up at night. “Our number one challenge in terms of being attractive to business and industry coming here is the issue of a prepared work force,” said Andy Burke, CEO of the Regional Alliance for Economic Development. Burke’s 10-county, twostate alliance commissioned a study earlier this year that showed the region with some work force shortcomings, but also a sizeable pool of residents who could bolster the area’s trained work force if training opportunities were there and they took advantage. Burke said the region’s future growth hinges on this issue as much as any, because before companies look for land, before they investigate incentives to relocate, or transportation logistics, they ask: “Do you have a work force, is it trainable, is it trained, is it capable of doing the work we have to do?” Matt Bray’s experience serves as a microcosm of Tri-Cities work force concerns. The owner of World Concrete just received a $26,000 grant from the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development, and he hopes to use the funds to get at least three people officially certified as finishers through the American Concrete Institute. To become ACI-certified, a person must complete 1,500 documented field hours and pass written and skills tests. “You flash that ACI card and you can get a job anywhere making good money,” Bray said. Bray and his office manager, Vinita Chen, have struggled for several years trying to find good finish workers today, and even more importantly, figure out where tomorrow’s generation of skilled finishers will be found. “We were kicking around the whole idea of who we’re going to get for the next generation of finishers, because the guys in the field who are skilled are all over 50,” Bray said. He said World Concrete’s growth has been stymied because of an inadequate skilled labor pool. The company has trained Job Corps participants and spoken to guidance counselors at local high schools trying to drum up interest, but the need hasn’t been filled. “There’s a lot of work out there that we pass on because we wouldn’t be able to complete it in a timely fashion, so if we don’t find qualified finishers, we continue to miss out on that opportunity for growth,” Bray said. The story is much the same across the construction industry as well as in skilled trades such as electricians, mechanics, millwrights and advanced machinery operators. Skilled educators at the Tennessee Technology Center in Elizabethton have employers begging them for graduates, but can’t always find enough students to fill their classrooms. Bray and Chen believe our economy is beginning to suffer the effects of a generation of pushing college, and particularly four-year degrees, to the exclusion of other options for young adults. “We’ve done a disservice to our younger generation in this way,” Chen said. “I’m to blame with my own sons, because as we always say, ‘I didn’t want them digging ditches,’ but a lot of these skills we’re talking about are a good way to be able to feed your family.” Bray said a stigma attached to his type of work — along with other “hands-on” professions such as mechanic — has contributed to the worker shortages faced now. “We’ve taught our schoolkids that only the people who don’t have brains do this, that if you’re smart, you’ll be behind a desk at a computer, so we have smart young people going to college that might actually be happier in a career that only requires vocational training,” he said. The Regional Alliance’s Burke said that whatever the roots of the skilled worker shortage, finding a solution is paramount. He said the alliance’s members — including major Tri-Cities employers and local governments — are focusing as much on this area as any. “Our challenge is, are our workers trained and skilled, and do they have the education and the soft skills in the areas that are important to each employer? “It’s a big issue and certainly one of the more important things that we’ll be working on over the next few years.” Reach Jeff Keeling at jkeeling@johnsoncitypress.com.
