BY ANNE MICHAUD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Responding to pressure from some African-American community leaders, Hamilton County commissioners are creating a formal process to find job training for women and minorities.
The initiative grew out of a perception that stadium construction would create good jobs for Cincinnati's unemployed.
That perception began with the stadium sales tax campaign in 1995 and 1996, and it was fueled by a county-sponsored job fair that attracted about 600 people.
The job fair raised expectations, but the county has never drawn from that pool of applicants because it has never hired people directly for stadium work. Instead, it is contracting with business owners who in turn hire employees.
On Wednesday, commissioners said they will put out a call for bids to create a training program for women and minorities, especially to prepare them for careers in construction, but also in other fields. The commission has discussed spending about $450,000.
Last month, commissioners were prepared to hire the Construction Workforce Development Center, a project of the Construction Owners Association of the Tri-State (COATS), to train 105 minorities to take construction apprenticeship exams.
Leaders of the West End and Avondale community councils, as well as union officials, objected to the choice over a more well-established trainer called Prep Inc.
Since then, several more organizations and individuals have come forward seeking the contract, said County Commissioner Bob Bedinghaus.
"I didn't think there was going to be the type of interest in this work that we have ultimately seen," Mr. Bedinghaus said Wednesday. He hopes the county will be in a position to hire one or two training firms in about a month.
Commissioner John Dowlin said he was concerned about recruiting trainees, and he didn't think COATS was particularly strong in that area. He suggested that the firm that is chosen should be paid based on how many people complete the training.
Jean Kumler of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers thanked commissioners for opening up the process to other applicants.
Some union representatives have charged that COATS is anti-union, a charge that Executive Director Greg Sizemore has denied.
