{"id":71195,"date":"2021-04-29T07:00:58","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T11:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/?p=71195"},"modified":"2021-04-28T19:21:14","modified_gmt":"2021-04-28T23:21:14","slug":"rural-iowa-manufacturing-jobs-surplus-means-big-opportunities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/rural-iowa-manufacturing-jobs-surplus-means-big-opportunities\/","title":{"rendered":"Rural Iowa Manufacturing Jobs Surplus Means Big Opportunities"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>OSCEOLA, Iowa, April 29, 2021 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) &#8212; It\u2019s been a year since the manufacturing industry was hit by the COVID-19 crisis forcing businesses to get creative to manage their workforce assets. In April of 2020, the rural Clarke County, Iowa\u2019s unemployment rate jumped from 3.4% to 11.8%, and more than 100,000 workers across the state were displaced, laid off, or simply let go when businesses had to close their doors, says Clarke County Development Corporation (CCDC).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/21-0429-iowa-manufac-696x522.jpg\" alt=\"Clarke County Iowa Manufacturing\" width=\"696\" height=\"522\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-71185\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/21-0429-iowa-manufac-696x522.jpg 696w, https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/images\/21-0429-iowa-manufac-696x522-300x225.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 696px) 100vw, 696px\" \/><em><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Now COVID restrictions have begun to lift and the economy is picking up again, especially for manufacturers in Osceola, Iowa. Unfortunately, many businesses are still struggling in their search for the right candidates to fill key positions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve got 4,700 non-farm jobs and our major manufacturers continue to grow and add staff,\u201d said Bill Trickey, Executive Director of the Clarke County Development Corporation. \u201cNow is a great time to find a job in Clarke County.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Major Clarke County employers have a variety of positions available and are casting a wide net to entice the right candidates to the region. Full of lucrative job opportunities, Osceola boasts easy access from Des Moines, Indianola, Norwalk, St. Mary\u2019s, Martensdale and many other South-Central Iowa and Northern Missouri cities via I-35 and highways 34 and 92.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re certainly in a position where we have more jobs than people to fill them, so we\u2019re recruiting from across the state to find the right fit,\u201d said Susan Miller, Human Resources Recruiter for the Altec body plant. \u201cWhile our pay is more than competitive with most Des Moines metro employers, and our benefits package is outstanding, we\u2019ve found that it\u2019s our unique company culture that really makes working here desirable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In an effort to fill essential manufacturing positions, companies are finding new incentives to draw in applicants, encourage referrals from current employees, and reward retention among the staff. For example, The Paul Mueller Company, manufacturers of stainless steel, food-grade refrigeration and transportation tanks, offers an incremental referral bonus as well as new employee sign-on bonuses awarded at ninety days, six months, and one year.<\/p>\n<p>Altec body plant helps employees attain Bachelor or Masters degrees in the industry by funding online courses through The University of Alabama and offers wellness benefits to employees and their spouses for completing fun and easy challenges. And Iowa Steel gives their regional sales team the opportunity to work from home or remotely as they travel the country to meet with customers, offering an excellent base salary as well as commission.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re in the process of growing, locally and nationwide. On top of filling regional sales positions around the country, we\u2019re also adding to our Osceola facility in the fall of 2021 and hiring more skilled labor,\u201d said Kate Patton, Human Resources Director at Iowa Steel. \u201cClarke County is full of employers offering diverse opportunities with competitive pay and an excellent work-life balance. We\u2019re just looking for the right applicants.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>While unemployment rates are relatively low, there is still a lot of work available in rural Iowa, especially in Clarke County. Employers are finding that top pay and benefits aren\u2019t the only tools needed to draw in a workforce.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMoney isn\u2019t the most important thing people are looking for these days. People are looking at our culture, and finding a place they enjoy coming to every day, and positioning their family to do more than just make ends meet,\u201d said Lauren Robins, Human Resources Generalist II for Paul Mueller Company. \u201cOn-site training, and a safe and healthy work environment are all important to prospective employees. Most of all they want to know that they\u2019re valued and able to be productive and growing for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clarke County\u2019s manufacturing industry has advantages not found in bigger cities across the state. Factors like job security, educational incentives, and unique, diverse opportunities for advancement are all part of what draws in a workforce that drives the success of the entire community.<\/p>\n<p>For more information about the availability of jobs mentioned in this press release, feel free to reach to the Human Resources department at each company:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Altec Osceola Body Plant, HR Recruiter, Susan Miller,\u00a0641-223-8807, email:\u00a0susan.miller@altec.com<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Iowa Steel Human Resources Director, Kate Patton, 641-342-2134, email: kpatton@countrysidetank.com<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Paul Mueller Company, Lauren Robins, Human Resources Generalist II, 641-342-5521, email: lrobins@paulmueller.com.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u2019d like to learn more about the manufacturing industry and development opportunities available in Clarke County, Iowa, please reach out to Bill Trickey, Executive Director of the Clarke County Development Corporation, at 641-414-1884 or email: info@clarkedev.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>OSCEOLA, Iowa, April 29, 2021 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) &#8212; It&#8217;s been a year since the manufacturing industry was hit by the COVID-19 crisis forcing businesses to get creative to manage their workforce assets. In April of 2020, the rural Clarke County, Iowa&#8217;s unemployment rate jumped from 3.4% to 11.8%, and more than 100,000 workers across the state were displaced, laid off, or simply let go when businesses had to close their doors, says Clarke County Development Corporation (CCDC).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6796,"featured_media":71185,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[113,12804,1,940,87,80,48,522,10214],"tags":[15958,15957],"class_list":["post-71195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-manufacturing-news","category-ap","category-business-news","category-local-govenment-news","category-economic-development-news","category-employment-news","category-government-news","category-iowa-news","category-osceola-business","tag-iowa-manufacturing","tag-iowa-workforce","has-post-title","has-post-date","no-post-category","no-post-tag","no-post-comment","has-post-author"],"acf":[],"views":4213,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6796"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71195\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.send2press.com\/wire\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}