Colorado Springs,
Pueblo target each other's workers For 2006, home builders reported
that 35 percent of their buyers moved to Pueblo from out of town, while 65 percent
of buyers were local residents. One explanation for the high number of out-of-towners
is that Pueblo, with its affordable housing, is attracting buyers who work in
Colorado Springs. Yet, the dueling for workers between Colorado Springs
and Pueblo goes both ways. Employers from the north are actively recruiting
Southern Colorado employees, and in turn, local employers are searching in Colorado
Springs to find the skilled employees they need. Jeanne Cotter, spokeswoman
for the Pikes Peak Workforce Center, would not call it a trend for the two Southern
Colorado neighbors. "However, bear in mind that we probably work with
a small percentage of employers in the city. I did learn that we have one company
from Pueblo that will be attending our job fair on Aug. 23 - that's Rocky Mountain
Steel. "So, I think possibly it (hiring) is going both ways, and that
as companies look for the right people with both the technical and the soft skills
or the people skills, they extend their search when they can't find people locally." Earlier
this month, a Pueblo Community College official told The Pueblo Chieftain that
Rocky Mountain Steel is recruiting out of town for mechanical and electrical maintenance
technicians because it cannot find them here. PCC, in conjunction with the Colorado
Workforce Center and local manufacturers, is beginning a fast-track training program
on Aug. 28 to help fill the jobs. Two Colorado Springs companies in recent
weeks have contacted The Chieftain with the aim of gaining exposure so that Southern
Coloradans can consider their businesses for employment. Chris Glock, sales
manager for aerospace at RMB Products, a Fountain manufacturer of engineered plastics
for the aerospace, chemical processing, semi-conductor and pharmaceutical industries,
said the company already draws people from the Pueblo area and hopes to find more. He
said a number of Puebloans who formerly worked at the now-closed local Boeing
plant make up a good deal of his aerospace department staff. "There
is a lot of manufacturing experience in Pueblo . . . Every manufacturer in the
city (Colorado Springs) is starved for personnel," he said. He said RMB's
65-person staff could grow immediately by 10 employees and another 35 in the near
future if it could find them. Glock said people should not be discouraged
by news reports that say that "another company is closing up and we're going
to be a ghost town." "That is not the case. We just don't see
the data supporting that opinion," he said. However, Glock said people
need to realize they need specific skills to get hired and can't count on being
trained on the job. "If you want a minimum wage person, a hamburger
flipper - that caliber of person - there is a lot of people out there who are
employable. But if you want people with semiconductor, aircraft or electronics
(skills), if you want to take that next level (of skills), most of those people
are employed." Anne Giaritta of the Progressive Group of Insurance
Companies last month opened its state-of-the-art data center in Colorado Springs.
Giaritta said 39 people already were employed and more than 60 additional employees
with information technology skills as well as 40 more positions will be filled
by the year's end. Giaritta said she wanted reporters to tour and photograph
the facility so that Southern Coloradans would learn of the job possibilities
at the new 24-hour data center.
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