Northeast counties build a better workforce
COLVILLE — Paul Wade knows the 26-foot hulls of Hewescraft’s popular new Pacific Series boats will soon force the company to enlarge the crowded factory floor. Plans for a two-stage, 25,000-square-foot expansion have already been drawn up.
But along with the bumper-boat space problems at Hewescraft, the chief executive officer says the company also faces manpower issues. Like other manufacturers in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties, Hewescraft cannot always find enough welders, machinists, electricians and support workers to fill every position.
And the shortage has impeded business recruitment efforts, as well.
Jeni Forman, former executive director of the Tri-County Economic Development District, says worker scarcity, as well as a housing shortage, discouraged executives scouting the area.
“We don’t want to be in that situation again,” says Forman, who started work Monday as sales and marketing director at Hewescraft.
Echoing an observation oft-repeated by Spokane’s business leaders, she says “Nationwide, we’re behind the eight-ball on work force.”
The district, Hewescraft, 13 other employers, and representatives from many surrounding school districts responded in January 2006 by creating the Northeast Washington Industrial Skills Panel funded by a state grant.
The group’s effort has been two-fold; setting up new training programs in conjunction with Spokane Community College, the Spokane Skills Center and area high schools, and getting the attention of students and teachers unaware of the opportunities in manufacturing.
Panel members have fanned out to area high schools, and teachers have toured Hearth & Home Technologies, Vaagen Lumber, Kinross Gold, and the Curlew Job Corps. They encountered students who struggled in school, but found their stride in manufacturing. Marcus Morgan, superintendent of Chewelah’s schools, says those meetings had a powerful effect on the teachers, who were asked to think about how their curriculums might mesh with the workplace.
A discussion of quality control, for example, hit home with a pottery teacher, who saw potential applications in her classroom.
Five Kettle High School seniors amplified the message. They made a video with employers and students that explained the importance of simple things like good attendance and finishing assignments. Set to music, “The Game of Life” answered off-the-wall questions like “What does it take to get fired?”
The fresh presentation wowed students, and so impressed panel members they shelved a professional production intended to address the same issues.
The DVD will be incorporated in a three-year program that will start with alerting sophomores to the opportunities in manufacturing, and the family wage jobs offered.
Juniors will get information on how to prepare for a career, seniors will get internships or other exposure to factory environments.
Wade says the panel hopes to create a “virtual” skills center in conjunction with Spokane’s that would capitalize on specialized programs within various high schools — computer-aided design in Chewelah, for example, and electronics in Colville.
A recent adjustment in school funding will help, Morgan says. School districts used to be penalized if a student took classes at a skills center. Now, skill center attendance is considered a plus that rewards districts with additional money.
A Basic Industrial Technologies class has also been launched with the assistance of SCC.
Even though a slowdown at neighboring Hearth & Home has relieved some of the immediate pressure for workers, Wade says the panel foresees an ongoing need for 80 new workers just in light manufacturing.
A California transplant, Wade says he has been impressed with the resources Washington dedicates to employee training.
Forman says the panel may be scrambling, but is probably ahead of other areas around the country awakening to the skilled worker shortage.
Leaving them in the wake, so to speak.