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Manufacturing is making a comeback in the area, said Dillon Charney with OhioMeansJobs.
“With new companies like Topre America right down the road on Lagonda, it’s going to be hiring over a hundred people at the beginning of the year,” Charney said.
Clark County is a hot bed for new employment right now, he said.
One job applicant is optimistic about Clark County’s industries.
“It’s opportunity still out there, it doesn’t feel desolate like a few years ago. So, I would say it’s promising,” said Jermaine Cantrell, a Dole job applicant.
He has production and distribution experience and those are skills Dole wants. He cannot use those skills at his current place of employment.
“I work for a tree company right now but that’s not something I want right now,” Cantrell said.
In June, the unemployment rate was 5.2 percent. It increased slightly to 5.7 percent in July but Charney says that number likely will go back down because of the hiring boom in the area. Many industries like health care, customer service and distribution logistics have openings.
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“There’s a lot of nursing homes looking for aides, RNs, LPNs and dietary (health care) is one of the biggest growing industries,” Charney said.
He calls it a “Steady Eddy” because health care workers will always be needed.
“In my 10 years that I’ve been working here, we had the depression in 2008 to 2011 and it’s taken the past three years to get back up to the level that we were before,” Charney said.
He knows companies have been hiring in small quantities lately but he said they are now going back to mass hiring.
Dole’s salaries start from $10.70 and go to $13.20 per hour. It has a 20-cent per hour shift differential for those working second shift.
Requirements for these positions are either a high school diploma or GED and a demonstrated ability to perform assigned tasks, according to information from the company.
Dole will continue hiring until all positions are filled.
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