Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series about the workforce challenge in Albert Lea and what local organizations are doing to resolve it.

Office positions. Nursing. General labor. Skilled labor.

Albert Lea businesses of all varieties are seeing challenges in finding workers to fill open jobs.

“I would say we have more than normal,” said Joe Lubke, staffing consultant at Express Employment Professionals. “Since March, the whole town has been pretty busy. The area has been flooded with jobs.”

Lubke said as of Thursday his company had 27 local job openings — some entry level and some that require some experience. Express helps local companies find employees.

Lubke said many of the jobs start off as temporary but often lead to full-time opportunities.

“We’re a great gateway to get to companies,” he said. “We work with some of the best companies that are in town.”

He said people often have a stigma against Express and other staffing agencies because they think the agencies offer only temporary work. He said he also thinks manufacturing and other technical jobs have a negative connotation from younger people, when in reality there need to be more trade programs and higher encouragement of these types of jobs.

Kris Pierce, plant manager at Alamco Wood Products, said his company has struggled filling everything from seasonal work to temporary to full-time jobs, both first and second shift.

Employees mainly work in construction and manufacturing and must be able to read a tape measure, lift 25 pounds and do some math. The company teaches them how to use most of the equipment.

Pierce said Alamco presently has five jobs open and is working through advertising, word of mouth and temporary agencies to try to get the jobs filled. It has about 90 employees altogether.

Roxanne Ponce, human resources manager at Lou-Rich, said her company is having a hard time filling technical positions such as designers and CNC operators.

“We’re not getting the skilled workers we need,” Ponce said. “It’s really hard to find some really good, dependable workers who want to work.”

She said they have two positions open each for both designers and CNC operators.

With the shortage in employees, other workers have to work overtime to make up for the workload or the company has to hire people and train them in. It can be disappointing, however, when the company goes through the effort to train people and then they decide to pursue employment elsewhere.

To deal with the challenge of finding qualified workers, Lou-Rich is partnering with Riverland Community College this fall to start a program to meet some of their needs. It also partners with South Central College. They take part in job fairs with North Iowa Area Community College, Minnesota State University, Riverland and South Central.

They have even started their own in-house training program for employees who might not have prior CNC operating experience but who would like to advance. Employees must be working there for 90 days and show a commitment to the company before they will send them to Riverland or South Central for the training.

Employers outside of manufacturing are also having a hard time finding workers.

Mike Funk, superintendent at Albert Lea Area Schools, said the school district has difficulty filling special education positions and teaching positions of English language learners.

“If we cannot find licensed applicants, we hire applicants who can get a variance based upon education and life experience,” Funk said.

He noted that one of the largest concerns for new hires and for the retention of teachers is adequate housing.

“There is a teacher shortage in both areas mentioned throughout the state, particularly in outstate Minnesota, since most new teachers want to live in the Twin Cities,” Funk said.

Katie Davis, campus administrator at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea, said recruiting and sustaining a qualified and professional workforce has been an ongoing challenge for long-term care providers for many years.

She said for their industry, the challenge has been providing a competitive wage for all departments: nursing, dietary, laundry, housekeeping and maintenance. Much of the challenge with wages has been because of low reimbursement from the state, as the state sets the rates for reimbursement.

Davis said thanks to a bill recently passed, the rate structures for all providers will be changing beginning in January.

“Given our employees are truly the foundation to the success of our organization, we need to be able to pay them appropriately,” she said, noting that because of the new bill, wages will now reflect the hard work and dedication of their employees.

“I am excited that Minnesota has truly made a commitment to invest in elder care,” she said. “I am confident that this investment should lead to increased quality, satisfaction and recruitment/retention of employees.”

She said Good Samaritan has also had to be creative in succession planning and recruitment of its employees. They recently starting offering a certified nursing assistant class for non-certified nursing assistants. By offering the class, it has opened up a new pool of applicants to choose from.

The classes have been full each time.

Good Samaritan also offers scholarships four time per year for any employee going into a nursing related field of study. She said this strategy has also helped with recruitment and retention.

“From the nursing assistant classes to the scholarship programs, it’s our goal that an employee will stay with us throughout his or her entire schooling,” Davis said.