Workforce forum addresses future

Published 1:18 pm Monday, October 25, 2010

Business and industry leaders got a first hand look at plans to help improve the workforce in Escambia County Wednesday as the Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council presented a workshop on the subject.

Al Etheridge with SAWDC, said the purpose of the meeting was to determine the needs of business and industry and help find a way to meet those needs through workforce development.

“It is our goal to understand the employers in our area and what their needs are for a workforce,” Etheridge said. “By determining that we can better guide our educators in a direction to supply that workforce demand.”

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Etheridge said several communities are already beginning a process of achieving that goal with putting unemployed or underemployed workers in the best position to meet workforce needs.

Community and technical colleges are already on target with some training opportunities that will help meet the growing needs of business and industry throughout the region.

Al Bennett, director of Workforce Development Training at Jefferson Davis Community College, said the efforts of the institution are moving toward being able to produce educated workers to fill needed positions.

“We are here to listen to what those businesses and industries need in this area and listen to what they are asking for,” Bennett said. “I have a vested interest in our education system and want to provide training for the positions these businesses need.”

Etheridge said getting an open dialog between the Council, business/industry and educational institutions is the first goal to help get workers back to work.

“We want everyone to have ownership in this process,” Etheridge said. “We want to create a taskforce of individuals who will respond to dislocated workers with personal contact. We want to do what we can to influence the supply of workers based on what we know the demand is.”

Etheridge said some business and industry leaders have expressed a lack of skills required for a particular position within their company makes the hiring process difficult.

“I have been told that a company may have 50 applications for a position and only nine of those applicants have the skills they are looking for in filling a specific position,” Etheridge said. “We need to turn that around and get a workforce ready by training and teaching skills that will be required to gain employment in an industry that may need workers.”

Etheridge said one of the goals of the group is to pair employees and employers in such a way that everyone involved is happy with the match.

“We need to go to our employers and ask them what skills they are looking for in an employee and ones they don’t want,” Etheridge said. “We need to have that box of skills and be able to take that back to our educators and tell them to teach students those skills. If those skills are taught and learned, I can almost assure that worker can get a job when they leave that educational facility.”

The forum presented Wednesday was held as a joint event with support from the Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Brewton Area Chamber of Commerce and the Escambia County Industrial Development Authority.

The Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council was formed as a non-profit organization in May 2008 and has more than 40 council members. With more than 500 volunteers the Council has more than 3,800 contacts. The Council’s headquarters are located in Mobile with services offered in Baldwin, Coffee, Conecuh, Crenshaw, Monroe, Mobile, Escambia and Baldwin counties.

To learn more about SAWDC, visit their Web site at www.sawdc.com

Georgia Pacific Human Resources Director Mike Wade, left, discusses workforce issues with Al Ethridge, field director for Southwest Alabama Workforce Development Council.|Photo by Lisa Tindell