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500 Jobs Coming To Mansfield
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Mansfield News Journal reporter Linda Martz reports that a Denver call center company intends to move 500 jobs to Mansfield. Here's an excerpt from the story:
Some of the newspaper's readers have raised concerns in the comment section of the paper's web site that these jobs don't pay enough to rejuvenate the region. Certainly, the overall goal of Advance Northeast Ohio is to foster the creation of jobs that pay more than the national average. However, that doesn't mean call center jobs aren't valued -- particularly in communities like Mansfield that have experienced too many job losses over the last decade. Bookmark/Search this post with: Trackback URL for this post:http://www.advancenortheastohio.org/trackback/274
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The same sort of thing happened in Lorain county. A call center offered many, many new jobs to the community. The pay was not so great. In the face of the cost of living most of us have to endure, who is it that is being economically recovered? The drive, the push it seems is to bring economic recovery to the area. Why does this view marginalize the fact that workers need an economic recovery also. Time is money to us also. Low pay means we must work two jobs. There is not enough time in a day or strength in our bodies for that. Another thing that bothers me is that the state gathers statistical information from HR people about different job descriptions, what are the responsibilities of that job and what is the pay ranges per credentials and experience. Employers in Northeast Ohio do not pay anywhere close to those stats.
Somehow, workers are not being adequately valued in the economic equation. Somehow workers that have bore the weight of an on going economic predicament are expected bounce back with less because a cheaper labor force is available. Business structures, and machinery depreciate, but homes (personal property), even rents, utilities and the cost of borrowing money do not. I am not advocating that everyone with a contract agreement where money is being exchanged renegotiate to a Biblical standard, but why has the "global idea" degenerated into an abandonment of the local worker. People come to America for political freedom, businesses leave America for economic freedom is not a good thing to sustain a nation. The government whose job it is to manage scarce resources can not change the values of economic entities so that all of us can do well. But if you want to sustain a nation on low paying jobs, you might have to devalue, that is lower the cost of property, products and services so that folks can participate. We have considered forgiving debt in developing countries, yet push to raise debt here.
Now what is a good industry for Northeast Ohio? It is one that brings with it a whole slew of support business and service possibilities. That is a true economic engine. 500 low paying service jobs are just 500 low paying jobs.
Arnold has raised some very important points that I hope more people will want to respond to.
One of his points is "workers are not being adequately valued in the economic equation."
Without getting into a long discussion on economic markets, I agree. The best answer is to change the equation.
One way for workers to increase their value is to increase their education. Of course, that suggestion then requires that education be affordable and that there is inclusive access to education. Education in Ohio is expensive compared to the rest of the country, and our history of racial isolation doesn't provide for enough economic inclusion.
One way to lower the cost of education could be to make other government services more efficient and effective. Money saved could then be allocated to lower the cost of education. (That is the concept behind some of the education initiatives pushed by the Youngstown-Warren Regional Chamber. And increasing access to higher education is among the motivations of this new university study report.)
OK, so let's assume we're successful in getting the money to get educated, will there be a good job waiting for us at the end of the tunnel?
Yes, if we're able to sustain regional successes like the YBI, BioEnterprise, NASA Glenn etc. that are creating greater economic opportunities now and well into the future.
I appreciate that what I'm suggesting isn't a quick fix to the immediate concerns of Arnold and many others. But, I'm trying to illustrate that one project or one program cannot change a region's long-term economic slide -- which is at the heart of lousy economic equation Arnold highlights. Rather, we need a systemic approach that grows innovative companies, that prepares, attracts and retains our talent, that offers access and opportunities to all residents, and that is supported by efficient, effective government that enhances both the region's competitiveness and its quality of life.
That is the vision and mission of Advance Northeast Ohio. Together, we can create such a system in Northeast Ohio. Lots of people (and many more) are working on such a system (in small and big ways). I hope you'll want to join the cause.
Mr. Bush and Congress have agreed to give tax incentives (a Republican theory) to businesses and individuals to stimulate the economy. But they publicly said nothing to encourage us what to do with our coming new found wealth. It is assumed businesses will innovate new products, new businesses and new jobs without being told to do so. This has not been the pattern of businesses of late. A little public encouragement or leadership in the face of the crisis and some thought out direction from the top would be more beneficial than "relief is on the way". It is also assumed that individuals would stimulate the economy by temporarily having more money to spend. They ignore the fact that our "need" is to be relieved of debts incurred by the high costs of goods "and" services we have now. Retail-sales is not a good indicator of economic health when we use credit cards to do it. Using digital money has really hurt us. Now, Mr. Bush and Congress folk, leadership is not control from the back room, it's having the wherewithal to "guide us" through the muck of possible solutions with all due encouragement and reassurance. You can't just throw and redirect money at problems.
If the Feds do their part, we in Northeast Ohio can do ours.
I agree that education is key. To make education cheaper maybe on-line education needs to be pushed on all levels. First to supplement traditional classroom schooling, then to extend and enhance education and access to education. Education tax credits to put computers in homes that don't have them would be a way to go. The telephone land line is good enough for phone modems and DSL as most have cell phones anyway. Online courses, web applications and services would free us from giving controlling interest to specific software vendors. The one laptop per child concept would help here in America too. The best of all education outcomes is to have the tools and skills to do the job. Businesses need to routinely let schools know what they need so that coursework can be up to date and folks can set goals, target and acquire skill sets.
Having lost so many product producing industries in Northeast Ohio, are the industries we are pushing toward able to replace the jobs that have gone? Will newly created industry areas generate a community of support businesses? Have we agreed to only define ourselves by the merging market demand or available resources in developing nations?
Even a few questions point out that we who used to swear by research and development, need to put our dollars and minds into rethinking things. It's not about being the first or best in the world, it's about sustaining the effort and playing the game at a high level.
Being involved in Workforce Development in Richland County/Mansfield Ohio and contributing to local economic development activities, such as courting the above mentioned call center to come to this region. I think it is important to note that even though the wages are are minimal at $8.50 to $9.50, more with incentives, it is competitive within the "call center" industry as well as others including: retail, manufacturing, etc. A few other points worth mentioning are : (1) 500 jobs we did not have are 500 jobs we did not have. (2) These jobs offer an alternative to retail, fast food, manufacturing etc. (3) $12,000,000.00 in payroll, again is $12,000,000.00 in payroll that was not coming into the region in taxes, spendable income etc. (4) This company will spend millions to upgrade the building and facility. This could create some secondary employment in constructions jobs as the contract is most likely local. (5) Competitioiin is a good thing. Assuming other businesses are competing for this labor force, the ese businesses paying minimum wage may need to raise their starting wages to stay competitive. Will they decide to move for cheaper labor? I do not know but it is nice to see this call center decide to invest jobs in our nation/region instead of India or another "call center" heavy nation.