OXNARD : Job Retraining Paying Off for Some in County

To Steve Ortega, the decision by Abex Aerospace to close its Oxnard plant and lay off 500 employees last October meant the end of a way of life he thought would last his lifetime.

Instead of the comfortable living they had with wages from Oxnard’s largest employer, Ortega, 42, and his wife, Charis, suddenly had to scrimp to pay bills and provide for their three children. Soon, their money ran out, they lost their home and declared bankruptcy, Ortega said.

Events could have spiraled downward, but Ortega was one of the first at Abex to receive help from the Labor Employment and Training Corp., a nonprofit agency funded by the Job Training Policy Council of Ventura County.

Through the program, Ortega received counseling and help finding a new job. Six months ago, he was hired by GTE Government Systems in Westlake Village as a traffic coordinator in the shipping department. The cost of his 10-week training period at GTE was reimbursed by the federal jobs program.

“I was one of the very fortunate ones,” Ortega said during a break at his new job. “God only knows what I would have done without the help of the program.”

The rapid response program begins before the layoffs are even announced to employees, with specialists arriving to assess the job skills and needs of the targeted employees, said the council’s Wayne Ford.

Some who need more competitive skills such as computer knowledge are enrolled in courses arranged by Labor Employment and Training Corp. or the Dislocated Workers Program at Oxnard College, both of which are funded by the JTPC.

For some, the encouragement and job training offered by the JTPC has made all the difference.

“They never let me go,” Ortega said about the program. “They were always there.”