BY EARNEST WINSTON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- With the region's economy continuing to improve, the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce is taking steps to make sure area businesses are not caught short of workers.
In a partnership with the Army, the chamber has created a JobHOT LEADS program, which provides members free access to a computer database that contains short resumes of 150,000 to 200,000 military and federal government employees about to return to the civilian job market.
The initiative is called the Army Career and Alumni Program (ACAP).
"We'll be touching a really neat vein of prospective workers," said Bob Richards, head of the chamber's Workforce Readiness Council. "We're just trying to showcase Northern Kentucky."
The chamber, Northern Kentucky's largest volunteer business organization, is searching for people with government experience and a positive work ethic who are drug-free.
The database allows employers to contact and recruit soldiers and sailors who are near the end of their military service.
Supporting ACAP are two other programs: Army Employer and Alumni Network (AEAN) and the Hometown Job Connection. AEAN is a national database of employers interested in receiving resumes and applications from Army alumni, and the latter program was established to have soldiers' resumes sent to their hometown recruiters.
The chamber also is planning a May 21 job fair at Fort Knox in Kentucky for about 100 of its members to meet nearby residents and workers who plan to leave the military. Between 1,000 and 1,500 job seekers are expected to attend.
"We definitely need workers," said chamber Chairman Joe Von Lehman, adding that recruitment in other areas is "in the back of our minds."
As the birth rate has dropped over the years, fewer people are entering the job market, Mr. Richards said.
Another factor is that some students leave the local school systems unprepared to work, he added. "It's a real problem in our country. Personally, I think we just dropped the ball on education," he said.
Empower Kentucky Skills Job Data Bank, a pilot project that might be implemented in Northern Kentucky in the coming months, allows employers and prospective workers to find each other through an online database.
Mr. Richards said his council also may conduct a job fair via satellite. Such an initiative would be similar to a teleconference, but it would use the Internet.
Last month, the chamber started a job-training program for inner-city residents who have a short job history.
A new report shows that Northern Kentucky's unemployment rate fell to 4 percent last year, down from 4.4 percent in 1996, putting it among the lowest in the state. Statewide, 71 counties had lower jobless rates than in 1996. Rates increased in 42 counties and stayed the same in seven.
The report was prepared by the Department for Employment Services. The increasing number of companies locating in metropolitan areas is contributing to a falling unemployment rate in regions such as Northern Kentucky, said Janet Hoover, spokeswoman for the Cabinet for Workforce Development.
