MOUNT VERNON — More people are taking advantage of the Opportunity Knox Employment Center on Coshocton Road. According to Roger Shooter, director of Knox County Jobs & Family Services, the center had 2,666 visits last month, up from 2,176 visits in January.
Diana Williams, director of the employment center, said that around the first of the year, the center had around 55 to 70 people visit per day; now that number is over 100 per day. The employment center has a full-time staff of 13, two of whom are dedicated to the resource room, which contains several computers, classified ads from area newspapers and other printed materials to help job seekers find employment.
“Unfortunately, the people that come in here aren’t mandated to tell us if they get [a job], but ... my guess is that we’re seeing mostly new people [at the center],” said Williams.
Previously, she said, an average job search took three to four months before a person landed a job, but now an average job search takes six to nine months. Williams also said there are job seekers who have been utilizing the center for more than a year and have still not yet found a job.
“I think it’s because we have a lot of people looking [for jobs], and few openings here in Knox County,” she said.
Many of the people who use the services at the employment center, said Williams, are not young people just out of college, but rather people in their 40s and 50s who have been victims of downsizing or layoffs. These middle-aged people, noted Williams, “are reluctant to take training for new things ... they were thinking [of] retirement, and now they’re not, they’re looking toward starting over again.”
The high price of fuel is also a factor for people involved in a job search, as now people are seeking more local jobs.
“Because gas is so high, it’s very difficult to say to somebody ‘you ought to be looking [for a job] in Columbus’ if they live in Apple Valley,” Williams said.
Cathy Hedges, an employment counselor at the center, works in the resource room. Hedges said the center provides numerous resources for those seeking work, ranging from assistance in writing resumes and cover letters, to computer, fax and telephone use for those wishing to contact potential employers. All of the services are free of charge. The center is also part of a statewide program known as SCOTI, which keeps applicants on file and reaches out to employers statewide.
Hedges said other services available at the center include skills assessment and an interest profiler program, which matches a person’s interests to a suitable career.
“Anything in this room,” said Hedges, referring to the resource room, “you can use for employment, unemployment or education.”
She explained that people on unemployment, those seeking employment, or those in school are free to use the resources available. The center will also make appropriate referrals to other departments — such as Jobs & Family Services — based on a job seeker’s need.
Hedges reiterated Williams’ sentiment that fuel prices are causing nearby jobs to be in high demand.
“People don’t want to travel back and forth to Columbus now, they want local jobs,” she said.
Also, Hedges said, the staff is dealing fine with the increased number of visitors to the center seeking employment.
“We’ve been doing OK so far,” she said. “We keep really reinforcing that it’s not them, it’s the market. [But] it’s really not so much the market as ... the economy; everybody is downsizing.”
Lance Blencowe has lived in Mount Vernon since 1992, and has been using the services at the Opportunity Knox Employment Center since 2004. He has a degree in international studies, but now calls himself a painter and is in the contracting business.
Blencowe said he has found work through the center, but nothing permanent.
“It’s a great resource,” he said, “but when you’re doing things via computer all the time, which is what every employer wants you to do, you don’t hear anything back.”
He said he had applied for five jobs in the past two weeks, but has yet to hear from any of the employers.
“A lot of times they will set up an automatic e-mail that comes back to you and says, ‘thank you for applying’ ... and then you never hear another thing,” Blencowe said.
Travis Culpepper has been using the services at the Opportunity Knox Employment Center periodically for eight years, ever since he moved to Howard. He first started using the center before it moved to its current location, and also earned his GED through the center. He works in Pataskala, and has had his job for about two months. He is looking for a job closer to his residence, and also one that pays more.
Culpepper said that when he applies for jobs, he often doesn’t hear back from employers, but then finds phone numbers to contact them to see if they have received his application. However, gas prices are starting to affect his commute, which is over an hour one way.
“It’s $120 a week for me to go to work,” he said, “so I’m looking for another job now that’s a little bit closer.”
