Tag Archive for: Insites

The regions labor pool is tightening. Worker dearth has given new meaning to the word “recruiting” – Labor pools that were previously overlooked have become fertile hunting grounds for all industries, and the trend is likely to continue. As the need for qualified workers continues to grow, businesses will need to look toward alternative sources of manpower to meet their job requirements. The face of America’s workforce is rapidly changing and growing more diverse. Is your business prepared for the workforce of the future?

People with disabilities represent the largest block of untapped labor market resources in our country. In Virginia, there are approximately 380,000 working age persons with disabilities. In an active effort to bridge the gap between individuals with disabilities and businesses seeking staffing solutions, the Virginia Department of Rehabilitative Services (DRS) has established a strong, comprehensive program which addresses the needs of the business community.

At a time when qualified workers are at a premium, one of the most valuable services that DRS has to offer to the business community is in the area of staffing. With help from DRS, at no cost, employers with staffing needs can gain access to prescreened and pre-tested applicants; receive workplace accessibility analysis; find out about financial incentives; and enhance employee relations through disability training and awareness programs. To provide an objective basis of hiring, evaluating, training, and accommodating persons with disabilities, trained professionals can perform a detailed job analysis of the jobs in your company. Job analysis is a useful employment tool in that it can determine specific job requirements relative to screening and placement.

Hiring qualified persons with disabilities can also provide businesses with a number of financial incentives including tax and reimbursement benefits, which help employers, cover the cost of accommodations for employees with disabilities, and make their places of business accessible for employees and/or customers with disabilities. To help businesses successfully accommodate new employees or customers with disabilities, rehabilitation engineers are readily available to provide consultation, reconstruction and/or fabrication of devices or other needed modifications for the job or job site. Most employees experience uneasiness when we begin to talk about reasonable accommodations for people with disabilities because of the misconceptions of the amount of money that they will have to spend to be in compliance with the law. The fact is that most people with disabilities actually require little to no accommodation at all to perform their job. Accommodations that are necessary are usually low-tech, inexpensive, and are common-sense types of adjustments. Assistive devices or modifications can range anywhere from adjusting the height of an employee’s work desk or providing a cordless headset for answering phones, to simply rearranging an employee’s work schedule to one that meets his or her transportation needs.

Addressing disability issues in the workplace is another valuable service offered by DRS. Professionals with experience in disability and employment related issues provide programs on disability awareness and sensitivity training designed specifically for supervisors and employees who are or will be working with people with disabilities. We also offer seminars for personnel specialists and supervisors about fair and proper practices in interviewing, hiring and supervising people with disabilities.

Businesses throughout Virginia have witnessed, firsthand, how hiring an individual with a disability can make good business sense. See how DRS can serve as a valuable resource for businesses in a partnership that works! For further information, please visit our website at http://www.vdrs.org or contact Dana Rosanelli at 804-662-7069 or email rosanedm@drs.state.va.us.

The Workforce/Education Committee of the Chesterfield Business Council has adopted a program entitled Making Academics Count. This program strives to increase the number of employers asking job applicants for school transcripts and attendance records.

It has been found that employee training and remediation costs decrease when grade transcripts are used in hiring practices. And, asking for school transcripts and attendance history stimulates the connection between the work community and the school community.

Many students fail to see any tangible reward for mastering difficult course work or being punctual in the school environment. Employers can change this by demonstrating that they care about a job applicant’s performance and attendance in school and will reward hard work, punctuality and accomplishment with better employment prospects. And, students tend to focus more on planning their academic schedule and career goals if they have to show a transcript to get a job.

In order to facilitate a simple means for employers and prospective employees to share this kind of key information, Chesterfield County Public Schools is introducing a student résumé.

The information from the student’s transcript will be compiled into a two-page résumé. The first page, produced by the school, will show the student’s attendance, tardies, and grades. The second page, produced by the student, will show activities pertinent to employment, both in-school and out-of-school.

Chesterfield County Public Schools will introduce the résumé to all 10th grade students during their English class in the spring. The lesson will stress the importance of the résumé and teach the students how to prepare it properly. It will then become the students’ responsibility to keep the information updated to present to potential employers.

Chesterfield County recently announced a new addition to its corporate roster – Algroup Lawson Mardon. Lawson Mardon, a Swiss-based manufacturer, is constructing a 176,000 square foot facility in River’s Bend Center.

As a world leader in specialty packaging products for the food, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and tobacco industries, Lawson Mardon has manufacturing facilities on three continents, including one in Montreal, Canada and Peachtree City, Georgia.

The company’s newest manufacturing operation at River’s Bend Center will be a dedicated facility, providing folding cartons and cigarette packaging for Philip Morris products. Lawson Mardon will create up to 150 new jobs and invest $45 million at its new plant which is scheduled to be operational by July 2001.

Virginia Works 2000 will present “Pathways to Success”, a ½-hour
television program to acquaint high school and middle school students and their
parents with gateway career opportunities in central Virginia. It is scheduled
to air on local cable channels during Workforce Development Week 2000 (October
23rd-29th). Corporate executives from twelve area
companies will illustrate career opportunities for the 21st Century in
manufacturing, service, health care, IT, and the trades.

Company officials will address basic skill and character requirements and
continuing college or technical education needed for these jobs. Each of these
companies offer training and tuition assistance programs to support the
professional development of their employees. The program also highlights
employees who are taking advantage of those opportunities and learning while
they are earning a salary. The companies and their employees will dispel the
myth that entry-level jobs are dead-end jobs. They will illustrate that many of
the job opportunities available are actually “gateway” jobs that are
the first step to rewarding careers.

“Pathways to Success”

Richmond area Cable TV schedule

October 23

7:00 PM on Comcast Channel 6

8:00 PM and 8:30
PM on BLAB TV Channel 7 AT&T and Channel 8 Comcast

October 25

7: 30 PM on Adelphia Channel 12

October 26

7:00 PM on Comcast Channel 6 and Benchmark
Channel 10

7: 30 PM on Telemedia Channel 3 or 4

October 27

7:00 PM on Benchmark Channel 10

October 28

2:00 PM on AT&T Channel 6

October 29

2:00 PM on

Channel 4 – Telemedia

Channel 3 – Telemedia

Channel 6 – Comcast

Channel 7 – AT&T

Channel 6 – AT&T

Channel 10 – Benchmark

Channel 12 – Adelphia

John Tyler Community College has opened a permanent Midlothian campus in Chesterfield County. Located at 601 Charter Colony Parkway, the 126-acre campus includes academic and administration buildings with classrooms, offices, lecture halls and laboratories.

Campus Site

The land was donated by the J. Louis Reynolds Marital Trust and is located southwest
of Midlothian High School and is bordered by Charter Colony Parkway, Woolridge
Road extended and Route 288.

Size

Campus designed to accommodate 3,500 students.

Academic Building

• 12 classrooms, 2 tiered lecture halls, 4 science laboratories
• 2 faculty offices, 4 conference rooms
• Compressed video classroom
• 3 computer laboratories
• Academic Support Center
• Art studio including ceramics and graphics laboratories
• Learning Resources and Technical Center (LRTC) with Information Commons
  and faculty training center
• Student lounge
• Bookstore

Administration Building

• Student Services – enrollment services, student records, student activities,
  financial aid, counseling, placement testing, community education and career
  center
• Business Office
• Human Resources
• Information Technology Services
• General Administration

Campus Highlights

• Walk-up windows for enrollment and business services
• Extensive parking
• Enclosed student commons
• Outside courtyard
• Academic Support Center with designated tutor offices
• All classrooms and offices completely wired for video, audio, and data
  transmission and reception

The Metro Richmond Employment Network is an alliance of workforce development professionals, which includes public and private organizations designed to enhance partnerships with the business community. The NETWORK provides easy, cost-effective access to a diverse applicant pool through a variety of incentives and resources.

The Network Advantages

Save time and money

• Profile your company at monthly meetings
• Post job openings in Metro area locations

Reduce recruitment costs

• Gain quick and easy access to screened, qualified candidates
• Referrals are FREE and with NO OBLIGATION

Gain from Financial Incentives

• Tax Credits
• Subsidized On-the-Job training programs

Hire from alternative labor sources

• Mature workers
• Persons with disabilities
• Down-sized/displaced workers
• Economically disadvantaged persons
• Transitioning military

See how diverse selection of workforce candidates can meet your needs! For more information call (804) 662-7153 or email: walkeref@drs.state.va.us

Economic Development would like to welcome its newest members – Karen Aylward and Barbara DelVillar.

Karen comes to us from the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority and she will be a great asset to the department as a Project Manager. Welcome Karen!

Barbara comes to us from the Chesterfield Planning Department. As a Project Information Coordinator, her skills will enhance the department’s ability to provide accurate, timely information to our customers. Welcome Barbara!

Virginia’s A.L. Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership (VPMEP) is a state organization that fosters economic growth by enhancing the competitiveness of Virginia’s manufacturers. Three seminars will be held in the Richmond area during the October/November time period.

• October 11, 2000
  
  Principles of Lean Manufacturing 101
  
  Holiday Inn Select Koger South Conference Center

• October 25, 2000
  
  Lean 202: Value-Stream Mapping
  
  Holiday Inn Select Koger South Conference Center

• November 1, 2000
  
  Lean 203: Visual Workplace Organization
  
  Holiday Inn Select Koger South Conference Center
  

Visit the VPMEP web site at www.vpmep.org to find out more about VPMEP’s upcoming workshops.

Eternal Technology Corporation, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of dry film photoresist materials, has celebrated the Grand Opening of its new, state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Chesterfield County.

The new 65,000(+) square foot building is located at 1800 Touchstone Road in the Appomattox Industrial Center, which is located in one of the county’s Enterprise Zones. The company qualified for numerous state and local incentives that are administered through the Enterprise Zone Program, including rebates of the machinery and tools taxes, waiver of building inspection and site development fees, and state job grants and tax credit programs.

Secretary of Commerce and Trade Barry DuVal made keynote remarks at the ceremony, along with Deputy Representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office, Dr. Lyushun Shen.

Eternal Technology Corporation has been hailed as the first major Taiwanese manufacturer to locate in the Commonwealth and represents a welcome addition to the state’s growing high-tech electronics manufacturing sector.

The company is a subsidiary of Eternal Chemical Company Ltd. and is based in Kaohsuing, Taiwan. This plant in Chesterfield County is their first U.S. manufacturing facility. Eternal Technology produces photoresist films that enable printed circuit board manufacturers to produce extremely fine circuit patterns on copper-clad laminated plates through a photo-imaging process.

At the ceremony, Eternal Technology’s President Dr. Ying Kao announced that the facility is planning to add another production line and support facilities. Kao said, “The new Chesterfield facility is operating better and more efficiently than was expected, and we are pleased with the development of the new operation here in Chesterfield.”

The second coating line will add a minimum of ten new jobs. This expansion will bring their Chesterfield investment up to $30 million.

Powerful New Tool Now Available to Help Region’s Workforce

Are you …

• …interested in changing careers but want to know what education and experience you will need?

• …a business owner hiring for a new position and need to know what salary and benefits are competitive in our region?

• …an educator who wants to know if your curriculum will fit our community’s needs?

• …looking for a job and need daycare arrangements ?

• …the director of a growing international business interested in building a facility in
Richmond and need to know if qualified workers are available?

Now you can find answers to these questions and literally thousands of others on a new
Web site called the Workforce Wizard. You can enter the site at http://www.usworks.com/greaterrichmond/
or http://www.usworks.com/craterregion/.
You’ll then have access to information for the entire
Central Virginia area, for Greater Richmond or for the Crater region.

This new Web site is brimming with up-to-date, local data based on a survey of more than
2,400 businesses with 10 or more employees throughout the Richmond-Petersburg-Emporia
region. The venture is made available through a collaboration of WORKFORCE ONE and the Appomattox Basin Industrial Development Corp. (ABIDCO). Both groups promote workforce development and know the value of a ready and available workforce to the economic health of the region.

The distinctive features of the Workforce Wizard are that it provides timely, local data and that the Web site is interactive. This means users can search for information based on criteria they select. For example, job seekers can search for jobs by location, by salary or by skill level, and businesses can access local labor market data by occupation or by industry to help make strategic planning decisions.

The Workforce Wizard also offers an excellent employment handbook, and provides links to employers, education and training sources, other search engines, and community resources such as social service agencies. It provides career and industry outlook and
projections, making it useful to business planners, students, trainers and educators, and workforce development professionals.

WORKFORCE ONE is an initiative of the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Richmond Partnership, Inc. It is funded in part by a grant/cooperative agreement with the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development and the Richmond Regional Planning District Commission.

ABIDCO, the Appomattox Basin Industrial Development Corporation, is a private, nonprofit corporation that serves as the economic development marketing organization for the jurisdictions in the southern half of the Richmond/Petersburg metropolitan area.

The Chemical Engeering students at VCU have launched a “company” called ChemEngine. The ChE students work cooperatively, with advice from faculty advisors, to provide multiple services of broad interest to the chemical industry and related technologies 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

ChemEngine teams can be formed to handle problems in a wide variety of areas, including process engineering, web-based services, R&D services, materials testing and characterization, and computer simulation. Principle guidance for the student teams comes from Gary Huvard, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering. Check out their web site at http://chemengine.net/

For more information contact Dr. Gary S. Huvard at (804) 827-7000 x 413 or gshuvard@vcu.edu

Virginia’s A.L. Philpott Manufacturing Extension Partnership (VPMEP) is a state organization that fosters economic growth by enhancing the competitiveness of Virginia’s manufacturers.

VPMEP provides affordable, high quality assistance that can help your company increase productivity, lower costs, identify growth opportunities, improve technology, and strengthen your production team. With an average of more than 23 years of manufacturing management and industry experience, our project managers are available to assist you in virtually every aspect of your business.

The following seminars will be held during the May/June time period:

Lean 202: Value-Stream Mapping – May 18, 2000 from 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Select Koger South Conference Center, Richmond

Lean 205: Cellular/Flow Manufacturing – May 31, 2000 from 8:30 a.m. – 2:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Select Koger South Conference Center, Richmond

Lean 203: Visual Workplace Organization – June 8, 2000 from 8:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Airport, Richmond

Principles of Lean Manufacturing 101 – June 20, 2000 from 8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Select Koger South Conference Center, Richmond

Visit their web site at www.vpmep.org or call VDMEP at 800-637-4634 to register for these seminars or to learn more about other upcoming events and ways in which VPMEP can enhance your firm’s bottom line.