Oct. 15—BLUEFIELD — With the manufacturing workforce aging and skilled workers becoming more difficult to find in that and other industries, an initiative is under way to fill that gap as well as make sure this area has a labor force ready.

Jim Spencer, the City of Bluefieid's director of economic and community development as well as director of the Bluefield Economic Development Authority (BEDA), told City Board members Tuesday the labor force shortage has worsened in recent years.

"Fast food restaurants are offering signup bonuses," he said, and advanced manufacturing job openings are increasing.

Spencer said that, according to the National Association of Manufacturers, nearly one-quarter of the manufacturing workforce is age 55 or older.

The workforce's march to retirement was accelerated by COVID-19, which prompted approximately more than 2.4 million Americans to retire early.

Nearly all industries were rocked by a mass exodus of employees of all ages during the pandemic, but manufacturing was hit the hardest and experienced a nearly 60 percent jump in resignations compared to pre-pandemic rates, he said.

Spencer has for years pushed regional approaches to projects and issues and he is already working with vocational/technical centers at high schools in the area.

The Mercer County Technical Educational Center alone has 700 students, he said, and with the training, some graduates can land jobs with a $30 per hour starting pay.

Many of these jobs will be in this area, he said, and include skilled workers needed for broadband projects, pipelines and industries like Omnis Building Technologies coming to Bluefield at Exit 1.

Some local companies, like Conn-Weld Industries in Princeton, are also working with vo/tech centers.

During last month's Bluefield Coal & Mining Show, Marvin Woodie, a mechanical engineer and company president as well as a McDowell County native, said he saw what happened to Southern West Virginia with the decline of the coal industry and he and the company are working to keep youth here to live and work.

They go to the schools in the area, secondary and elementary schools as well as vocational/technical schools and colleges, he said, to talk to students about the opportunities at Conn-Weld and in the industry.

"We are going to all the students and ask them what they want, what they want to do," he said, and they are told of the resources in this area. "We are getting a huge response."

Woodie said he did a presentation with students at the Mercer County Technical Education Center about needed skill jobs like welders, electricians and machinists and received a good reception.

Bluefield State University is also reviving its mechanical engineering degree program.

All of this is designed to provide the needed skilled workers.

"We want to make sure the workforce is here," Spencer said. "If they (business and industry) can't get employees, that is going to hurt us."

Manufacturers consider if a local workforce is available, he said, and that could prevent them to locate in an area.

That is another reason government, schools, businesses and industries should all work together to launch training initiatives to "upskill an area's existing workforce," he said.

— Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com

Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com