Despite help, it's hard to find good jobs
By Jennifer Crowe and Don Cox
Business consultant Alan Merryweather spent much of his summer meeting with the people laid off from Broken Hill Proprietary Co. Ltd.'s Robinson Mine, in Ruth, helping them figure out what to do next.
Merryweather's Organizational Consultants to Management Inc. was hired by BHP to provide advisement services and workshops for workers needing to update resumes and find new jobs. Merryweather said about half of the more than 400 people who lost their jobs have either found new jobs or gone back to school to start a second career. OCM has worked with workers laid off from other Nevada mines in Lovelock, Imlay, Carlin, Elko and Hawthorne.
"We've found there's a lot of people who want to start over," Merryweather said. "They got a good severance package so they have a little time to play around, although we don't recommend that."
Kathleen VanKlaveren worked in BHP's finance department for four years. The single mom of one son said she isn't sure where she's going next, but is glad the company hasn't left her hanging.
"They've spent quite a bit of time and money to help everyone who wants to be helped," she said. "OCM has shown us how to look and where to look. Unfortunately, most of the opportunities aren't in this area."
The problem is finding jobs that pay as much as mine work. Nevada economic figures put the average annual salaries for mining at $52,824.
"There's a strong attraction to mining because of the wages," said Judi Hase, manager of the Ely office of Job Opportunities in Nevada. "It's an entry-level job with a college wage."
When mines close, Hase said, a lot of miners are faced with the prospect of re-entering the work force as beginners at low pay.
"Everything they own is based on that (mining) wage," Hase said. "They have to leave that."
The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation said Friday rural counties will be receiving a $2 million in federal money to retrain and educate miners and others who have lost their jobs because of the mine closures. That's in addition to a $1 million grant JOIN has been using for programs this summer.
"There are people here with a house payment of $1,000 a month," Hase said. "You can't go into an entry-level job."
Keeping people in their hometowns:
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"We do talk to them about that," Jackie Kearns, manager of JOIN's Winnemucca office, said of encouraging people to relocate for work. "The first goal is to keep people in these towns. The second goal is to keep them in the state."
Moving to Las Vegas or Reno-Sparks isn't always an easy option, she said. "People who have kids in school or who don't have the resources to make payments on a house here and live (elsewhere), they aren't helped by knowing there are jobs in Reno and Las Vegas," Kearns said.
In Winnemucca, Battle Mountain and Ely, JOIN is spending money to retrain people as long-haul truck drivers, diesel mechanics and electricians.
The federal funds must be spent primarily on what the government lists as "high-demand" jobs. "Probably the highest demand is trucking," Kearns said. "It is the single most understaffed occupation in the country."
In the past year, about 200 people in the Winnemucca and Battle Mountain areas have gotten jobs with local and regional trucking companies, she said.
If the retrained miners can't find local jobs, the skills in trucking, mechanics and electronics are "portable," Kearns said - they can be used elsewhere - another requirement for the federal grant.
"With the community college, we are putting together an electrician class," she said of a program with Elko-based Great Basin College, which has branches in Winnemucca and Ely.
Miners go back to college: Mary Swetich, coordinator for Great Basin College in Ely, said some miners are going back to school, and she expects enrollment to grow even more next year after the severance money is gone and workers seriously look at their options.
She won't know until October how the layoffs affected the college's enrollment, but said a number of miners have enrolled in business and criminal justice classes at the college. In addition to the electrician class, the college plans to add several mini-semester computer classes in October targeted specifically at miners.
"They'll cover basic keyboarding, Windows and spreadsheets just to give them some skills," Swetich said. "There's a lot of interest in business courses. Some are looking into managing or owning their own business."
Kaye Roberts is one of those who hopes to get a job as a business manager or even start her own business with the new skills she's learning at Great Basin College. She said she's determined not to leave her home in Ruth and sees the college as key to staying in the area.
"I know I'm going to stay out of mining," said the former BHP truck driver, equipment operator and dispatcher. "I don't want to be in the same situation in a few years."
Gary Maples has worked in the mining industry for 25 years but is looking to do something new. He's taking advantage of the chance to go back to school and is going through the new four-year elementary education program at Great Basin. He and his wife want to stay in Ely, and he's hoping to get a job as a schoolteacher when he finishes his degree.
"If you want to look at the upside of a mine closure, this is it," Maples said.
Miners update their job skills: In addition to the college, White Pine School District's Nova Center also is seeing increased use since the layoffs. The downtown store houses a number of computers hooked up to a distance-learning program for students who, for whatever reason, haven't been successful in a traditional high school. Students can earn credits toward a high school diploma and brush up on other skills.
"We've seen a pretty good influx of miners looking to update their job skills," said Nova Center coordinator Deb Childers. "I've had a number of people coming in and saying, 'I never earned my high school diploma. Now I have the time, I might as well do it.' "
At the JOIN office in Ely, Hase expects another wave of applications for grant money in December and January, when people are seeking spring semester admission to Great Basin College programs. "It has been a savior for folks who have been in mining all their lives and have seen it disappear," Hase said.
"We're in the business of getting them vocational training so they can get back to work at a similar standard of living."