By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Wood County’s workforce program is acting as a matchmaker between manufacturers who struggle to find employees and high school students unsure of their future.
And next month, a speed-dating event to match them will be held. The event, called Career Premiere, will be held on March 11, in the Wood County Fairgrounds pavilion and conference center.
The career event will feature several local manufacturers and health care businesses in one location. “We’ve got some really good companies coming,” Mary DeWitt, director of the county’s workforce program, said Thursday to the county commissioners.
During the day, interested students from many area high schools will attend. Then in the evening, from 5:30 to 7:30, the Career Premiere will be open to the general public, plus interested students will be asked to return with their parents.
“That’s obviously one of our hurdles – getting parents on board” with a skilled profession rather than college for their teenagers, said Pete Prichard, from Northwest State Community College.
“We’ve been doing some pretty innovative stuff with Northwest State,” DeWitt said.
One of the new programs offers pre-apprenticeship training. It gives employers access to students who do not attend Penta Career Center, but you are interested in learning a trade like welding.
“The students are excited. The schools are excited. The employers are excited,” Prichard said.
Wood County Commissioner Doris Herringshaw praised DeWitt and Prichard for their creative approach to a big problem in the region.
When the commissioners make visits to industrial sites in the county, they frequently hear about the dire need for more employees.
“We try to be that go-between,” Prichard said about the matchmaking efforts.
Last year, DeWitt and Prichard introduced the Project Readiness program to the county commissioners.
“There are a number of kids who don’t know what they want to do,” Prichard said last year. And many end up going to college because it seems like the thing to do.
So Project Readiness presents them with another option.
Students who start out with manufacturers don’t have to give up on college dreams, Prichard said. Some may want to attend college while working.
Some local manufacturers are so desperate for employees that they are willing to work around school schedules or offer students hours during their school breaks, he said.
Manufacturing is no longer back-breaking work in dirty plants. Often, it now offers high-tech, well-paying jobs.
“Manufacturing is different than it was 20-30 years ago,” Prichard said.
Bowling Green City Schools, Otsego and Penta Career Center have bought into the concept, DeWitt told the county commissioners.
The program acquaints students with manufacturing and skilled trade opportunities by providing plant tours and speakers. The program allows students and their parents to see today’s manufacturing environments and understand the diverse options available.
