BY ANNE MICHAUD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
To keep a promise to the minority community, Hamilton County commissioners are considering spending $450,000 to qualify 105 people for construction trade union apprenticeship exams.
The plan proposed Monday by COATS -- Construction Owners Association of the Tri-States -- would place people on the job and require them to attend two nights of classes each week for four months.
The idea is to improve math and English skills, to encourage self-esteem and goal-setting, and to work through employment problems such as lack of transportation.
County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus said the proposal is under serious consideration. It fulfills a promise he and others made during the stadium sales tax campaign to encourage minority membership in the construction trades.
The county must find the funding. A possible source is welfare-to-work money. Mr. Bedinghaus said the county will most likely not use stadium funds because "this is broader than the stadium project."
Trainees may work on the stadium construction or other project. At the end of the training, they would continue to work for the same contractor.
County Commissioner John Dowlin questioned how COATS could possibly have better results than programs such as Cincinnati Works, a non-profit agency. Cincinnati Works offers similar training in a broader spectrum of fields, Mr. Dowlin said, and it is struggling with trainees taking drugs and failing to show up for work.
Gregory Sizemore, executive director of COATS, said one advantage his program has is trainees can be nominated by their pastors, and the pastors can mediate problems. Appli
cants can also be nominated by community councils or can nominate themselves.
Mr. Sizemore said the biggest challenge would be finding applicants. COATS was formed in 1971 by some of Cincinnati's largest employers, to head off a shortage of skilled labor.
Mr. Sizemore has run one program for minorities before, for Procter & Gamble Co. He said about half the trainees dropped out. Of the dozen who graduated, 10 are still working in construction.
