xmlns:fb=”http://ogp.me/ns/fb#”> The Courier ” Community leaders trying to combat worker shortage Community leaders trying to combat worker shortage

By LOU WILIN
STAFF WRITEr
Community leaders are slogging along in their effort to end a worker shortage that threatens to cripple Findlay and Hancock County’s economy and force companies to leave.
About 1,600 workers need to be added to Hancock County’s workforce each year over the next few years to replace retiring baby boomers, Anthony Iriti, Findlay-Hancock County Economic Development director, told the Findlay Rotary Club on Monday.
And that’s just talking about the needs of companies already here. The effort includes Findlay and Hancock County government, area schools and businesses, United Way, the Community Foundation, career Explorer programs, Camp Fire, University of Findlay and others.
A full-time executive director is being sought for the community workforce effort, which has been named Raise the Bar.
Among the players will be local mental health and substance abuse counselors. “The reality is, they failed the drug test at company A, and the next day go to company B and fail it again.”
“Can we intervene with mental health and substance abuse services before they apply again for a job?” The quality of work also suffers and consequently the company risks losing customers.
One company at Tall Timbers Industrial Park has a 30 percent worker turnover per month, Sheaffer said.
Hancock County has about 100 manufacturers, so manufacturing is where many jobs are. SECTIONSSelect Category2015 Election Local2015 Election Primaries2015 Election StateAn Ohio LifeBusiness NewsCEE PromotionsCrosswordEntertainmentFamily NewsFeature Blogs Schaadt in the Dark Train blogHistorical HighlightsInside EditionsInside SportsLocal News Flood MitigationLocal SportsMissing CategoryNational NewsNational SportsNews BriefsNews UpdatesNews Updates TickerObituariesOhio NewsOpinion Columns Courier’s View Letters to the EditorProgress 2016Public RecordsRandy’s SeenStorymapsStrange NewsSudokuTrending NowU.S. NewsUncategorizedWebDonutsWorld News