A Job Program That Can Work

Any small-business person with a vacancy or two knows how difficult it can be to find qualified workers to fill those jobs. Without the dedicated human resource departments enjoyed by big corporations, the owner of a small or medium-size business can often interview dozens of applicants and spend hundreds of hours to find the right person for a single secretarial job. But a new project administered by the Valley Economic Development Corp. seeks to make the hunt for talented workers easier by matching employers with local schools and job training agencies.

More than just a job placement program, the project--funded by a $300,000 federal grant--seeks to build long-term relationships between employers and educators. The idea: Schools can tailor their programs to meet the needs of employers, who in turn help the schools develop more relevant curricula. The biggest gripe of business owners involved with the project is that some of the workers they hire lack the most basic skills in math, writing and reading comprehension--yet these workers boast of being able to run computer programs.

Whether a modest $300,000 project can remedy such a topsy-turvy situation remains to be seen. But it’s a start, and similar efforts in other parts of the country have had positive results. Organizers believe that injecting a little free-market thinking into the schools can help turn them around. So they plan to create regular lists ranking schools and the quality of their graduates. That way, employers will know at a glance whether a particular high school or community college is producing graduates who measure up. Eventually, organizers want the program to be self-supporting, funded by businesses willing to pay for reliable leads on competent employees.

For employers, the project could result in a smarter, more reliable labor force with less effort. For educators, the project holds the promise of more relevant course material. For students, the results might include actually being prepared for the jobs they want.