Businesses seek employees
Greg Blaufuss uses a computer to confirm inventory status at Columbia Colstor in Quincy. Columbia Colstor is among a group of businesses seeking trained entry-level workers and is a partner in an upcoming preemployment training program. Photo courtesy of Columbia Colstor
COLUMBIA BASIN — There’s about 25 slots available for people wanting to enter a pre-employment training program and possibly work for area companies.
There’s no guarantee the program’s graduates will be hired after the six-week long training period, but partnering businesses plan to use the program to recruit workers for entry-level jobs, said Rebecca Waller, Big Bend Community College’s pre-employment training coordinator.
Businesses are currently having a hard time filling different shifts with adequately trained workers, she explained.
Meetings to learn about the program will be held on Jan. 29 in Othello, at the Nazarene Church of Othello, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. and on Jan. 31 at the Ephrata High School from 2 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and in Moses Lake at WorkSource from 10 a.m. to 12:30 a.m.
People can learn more about the program and the expectations during the meetings, she said.
The roughly 25 people who are selected will start class the first week in March. It will be offered Monday through Friday from 5:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
If a second class is held, 25 more people will start class around April 13.
The program is the first for the area, but not the first time used in the country, she explained.
Applicants must have at least a high school diploma to enter the $250 program and pass a math and reading assessment, she said.
She recommended applicants visit WorkSource, at 309 E. Fifth Ave., in Moses Lake, as it offers classes to prepare for the assessment or to improve scores, she said.
People who pass the assessment get to interview for the program.
The final selection is made from the assessment and the interview, she explained.
In order to remain eligible for the program, applicants must also pass a drug screening, she said.
Once a job offer is made, a background check will be done by the company, she said.
The program’s partnering businesses and other organizations are Big Bend Community College, Grant County Economic Development Council, WorkSource Central Basin Partners (Employment Security, SkillSource and OIC), McCain Foods, Laserfab, JR Simplot (Moses Lake and Othello), Lamb Weston/BSW, Quincy Foods, SVZ-USA, Columbia Colstor, Basic American Foods, REC Silicon and Genie Industries.
She explained the companies have family wage jobs, with some positions paying $11, $12 or $14 per hour.
The program’s curriculum includes instruction on computer technology, communication, general food manufacturing, safety, environmental health, math, personal development, time management and resumé writing, she explained.
“It will be a rigorous program,” she said. “They can’t miss a bunch of class. We’re expecting people to show the work ethic that helps them be successful on the job.”
If students are late more than three hours, they will be cut from the program, she said.
Students will be graded on their ability to learn what’s being taught, Waller said.
Students will meet different company representatives and visit the various plants.
Many of the instructors will be from area industries, she said.
Gary Allison, REC’s corporate training and development manager, said “Irish writer, poet and 1923 Nobel prize winner William Butler Yeates once said ‘education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire’.”
“This pre-employment training program is designed to light the fire of everyone who participates and gives them a great knowledge base for obtaining a good job. We at REC Silicon are proud to be a part of this educational program for our community.”