Forum increases workforce dialogues

MOSES LAKE — Educating a future workforce might be a step closer, following a forum Monday at Big Bend Community College.

The college and Basin Tech Prep Consortium presented the High Skills/High Demand Education Forum in the college's ATEC building to inform educators about the career opportunities available to students. About 140 people were present at the forum.

Presentations included Washington State Regional Labor Economist Donald Meseck's briefing on the nonagricultural economy in Grant and Adams counties and Tom Colegrove of Lee Technologies, which is providing services to the Microsoft data center in Quincy.

REC Silicon Director of Administration Dean Martinez related his company's challenges in recruiting employees for the highly skilled positions as it undergoes a $600 million expansion, and considers another expansion, which would either locate at REC's facility in Moses Lake or in Butte, Mont., he said.

Some of the positions Martinez mentioned needing included operators and mechanical or fabrication technicians, which can earn wages of $22.25 per hour, he said. Instrument and electrical technicians, with wages reaching $24 per hour.

Martinez anticipated needing twice as many high-skill, high-demand workers in three years. He aid it's more difficult to find people to fill those jobs.

A panel discussion informed the audience of the partnership between Genie Industries, the community college, Moses Lake High School and Columbia Basin Job Corps, and mentioned opportunities for their own students and schools.

Audience members broke into groups for roundtable discussions as the evening progressed, to come up with action strategies to link business and education, and determine their own commitments they could make to move workforce development forward in the area.

Prior to the event, Mary Shannon, director of career advising and outreach and Tech Prep for the college, said her goal was to inform educators about local economic growth and current and future job opportunities in the area.

During the forum, Shannon said she was getting good feedback, and pointed to the intense level of discussion going on at some of the tables.

"I think there's a real hunger here to make things happen," she said. "I'm hopeful we come up with, at the very least, a core group that's going to carry this onward."

Shannon noted some "high-level" business and education leaders were in the room to talk about the future of education.

"We want to grow our own workforce," she said. "It's crazy to be bringing all these people in from out of the area, and have our own young people not realize what opportunities there are and have our businesses struggling so hard to find good people."

WorkSource Supervisor Willie Holmes felt the forum was necessary to increase communication between agencies.

"It's just good to create this dialogue," he said. "It's a good situation we have, all these people coming together. Plus people can get to see what's needed in the community. The community is looking at ways to bridge the gap between employees, the needs of the community to bring new industry in and the word is getting out that new things are coming in, that we're a good place for new industry to come in, and also a way to find the employees we need."

Wahluke High School vocational, family consumer science, Spanish and health teacher Raquel Ferrell-Crowley said she would take the information about the technology careers back to her teams at the school. She was also looking for information about hospitality careers, she said, and hoped to connect with several businesses for tours for her students.

Ferrell-Crowley said she heard from the business and vocational trainers during the forum the desire for such transferable skills as communication, troubleshooting, the ability to problem-solve and be a member of a team.

"Besides the networking and the communication, the loud message here is society's fed up," she said. "They're ready to bring the working industry, the skill, the labor market out of high school and at work. They need those transferable skills and they need them from us teachers."

Royal School District family and consumer sciences education teacher Kathleen Schutz and counselor Marge Edwards wanted to see what was new and what they could spearhead.

"There are so many new companies coming in that they don't have to move out of the area," Edwards said.

"I think you have to keep encouraging the kids, to say, 'These are opportunities that are out there,'" Schutz said. "I think it's important just to meet the people helping to employ our future graduates. We need to hear they need a good work ethic, they need punctuality. Students need to hear it from the employers, though, for themselves."

"And the starting salaries are very decent wages," Edwards agreed. "They need to know that."