Steve White, director of the Affiliated Construction Trades in West Virginia, examines the welding test at the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 667 apprenticeship training facility in Winfield. (Photo by Steven Allen Adams)
White Sulfur Springs – West Virginia has a good problem, but there is a problem regardless: With new businesses coming to the state and major construction projects on the horizon, there will be enough workers to fill the jobs needed.
“My biggest concern is that we’ll have the manpower to meet the needs of the people and what we can do. That’s what we need to be able to do.” U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, DW.Va., addressed the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s 86th Annual Conference and Business Conference on Thursday at the Ballroom at the Greenbrier Resort.
We need to hire more workers to the state of West Virginia. Manchin continued. “We don’t have; We cannot produce them from within. We are going to go out and find them. This is the place to come,” he said.
“What I hear all the time is inflation concerns, supply chain concerns and workforce concerns are rampant across the state and the nation.” U.S. Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, RW.Va., spoke later that day at the business summit. Just this week, Seattle-based electric boat manufacturer Pure Watercraft announced it will build a facility in Brooke County to make electric pontoon boats and create 100 jobs. California-based Spark has announced plans to build an electric battery plant in Taylor County near Bridgeport, creating 350 jobs. North Carolina-based steelmaker Nucor continues to operate the site. The company is building an electric arc furnace steel plant in Mason County. When construction begins in earnest by the end of the year or early 2023, it will require 200 jobs to begin with and up to 2,000 jobs during peak construction. Nucor announced the new plant in January. And state officials are working to get a permit from the U.S. Department of Energy to create blue hydrogen from the state’s abundant natural gas supplies and pump the resulting greenhouse gases underground. If approved, the massive project would employ thousands of construction workers over the years.
“I’m very optimistic about the construction industry in West Virginia.” said Steve White, director of the Associated Construction Trades in West Virginia. “There is a lot of money going into strong infrastructure that is badly needed and overdue. There will be many of your usual roads and bridges, pipelines and more, but there is more. There are some great opportunities, such as hydrogen hubs, carbon sequestration, which can lead to gas-fired power plants.
“These are great entrepreneurs and there’s a great opportunity for our country, but that doesn’t mean the opportunity will happen.” White continued. “We want our leaders to focus and deliver on these great opportunities for our local residents.”
Labor Pain According to the West Virginia Economic Outlook for 2022-2026, published by West Virginia University’s Office of Business and Economic Research in the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, the state is expected to see modest growth in construction jobs next term. Two years. The report’s authors cited several highway construction projects in Ohio County, including the $210 million I-70 bridge repair and replacement program. The authors cite several federal projects funded through the CARES Act, the America’s Recovery Plan Act, and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“…growth will be stronger in the first half of the five-year forecast horizon, thanks to federal and state infrastructure spending and healthy demand for new homes.” The report stated. The report’s authors see natural gas production as a potential source of new jobs in the manufacturing and energy sectors, particularly in downstream industries.
“…other factors bode well for manufacturing activity going forward and provide significant upside potential. The report stated. “For example, the energy sector is expected to rebound in the near future, with coal, natural gas and NGL production increasing over the next two years, which should increase wages and business activity for machinery, fabricated metals and other manufacturers.”
West Virginia’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in July, down from May’s historic low of 3.5 percent, but still very low, meaning job seekers are finding jobs. But according to the St. Louis Federal Reserve, West Virginia still has the worst labor force participation rate in the nation at 55.2 percent. That’s up from 52.7% in April 2020, when the Covid-19 pandemic first hit, but still down from 56.2% in May 2009, as the country was heading into the Great Recession due to the collapse of the housing market. The labor force participation rate measures how many people are employed or looking for work versus those who have dropped out of the labor force altogether. Another factor that can affect the number of workers needed for current and future projects is competition for jobs from other regions. The Associated Press reported in August that construction projects in Ohio, including a semiconductor manufacturing plant for Intel, could employ more than 3,000 people by 2025.
Labor leaders and state officials say they currently lack 7,000 more workers in central Ohio, where other projects include a 28-story Hilton near downtown Columbus, a $2 billion Ohio State University medical center and a $365 million Amgen bio-manufacturing plant not far from an Intel plant. The article explained. Doing it Brian Dayton is the vice president of policy and advocacy for the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. Speaking Thursday after the business meeting’s morning sessions, Dayton said labor issues are at the forefront of the minds of small businesses and major manufacturers.
“It’s absolutely worth paying attention to.” Dayton said. “We have a labor shortage here, but not just in West Virginia. It is nationwide. It’s increasing pressure to make sure we’re training our employees well.
West Virginia has tried to work on these issues over the past few years. In the year The West Virginia Invest grant program, created by the Legislature in 2019, is a last-dollar program that covers the cost of high-need associate’s degree programs after all federal aid and scholarship assistance has been exhausted. A Blue Ribbon Task Force created by Gov. Jim Justice last February made recommendations for residents to sign up for a single portal for services, including job training, strengthening job training services at state agencies and incentives for employers to work with state agencies. To find and train the necessary personnel. In June, Justice appointed a Labor Resistance Officer to implement the task force’s recommendations.
“Everybody gathers.” Dayton said. “We recognize that we have challenges, but people are working very hard to address that and we’re training workers to get the jobs. These are good-paying jobs that are coming…these are going to be good opportunities, but we have to make sure the workers are there.”
One group outside of the governor’s workforce plan is union workers. For example, the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers Local 667 has a statewide apprenticeship program located in Winfield in the shadow of the John Amos Power Plant. Boilermakers work on projects ranging from power generation infrastructure to chemical plants, from petroleum to nuclear power. White visited the training facility last week and said the Boilermakers’ training program is paid by union members and tuition-free, and includes classroom lessons, hands-on training and on-the-job training supervised by experienced professionals. Travelers. White said he would like to see unions brought into the workforce discussion. White said the businesses are facing similar problems getting workers into their internship programs.
“I am fully confident that we will be able to provide the required manpower.” White said. “We have the best training facilities, infrastructure, teachers, bricks and mortar. We simply do not have enough trainees. We can wear them for many jobs. The main thing is to plant apprentices. We can be taking unemployed and underemployed people, giving them good skills and earning good wages. This opportunity is in front of us,” he said.
Steven Allen Adams can be reached at sadams@newsandsentinel.com.
