 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
||||||||||
 | |||||
| | ||||
| |||||
 | |||||
| | ||||
| |||||
CEDU employees working to rebuild lives Posted: Saturday, Apr 09, 2005 - 10:00:58 am PDT By R.J. COHN Staff writer
Workshop for workers offers ray of hope for many left jobless SANDPOINT -- Robin Dyck has been through mass layoffs before.Three other times in her 12 years at Sandpoint's Idaho Commerce & Labor Dyck has helped find jobs and training for large group of employees suddenly thrown out of work. From 1998, when Crown Pacific cut 180 people from its workforce, to about two years ago when Kmart closed, she has helped workers find their way into the job market again.
Yesterday, Dyck -- along with representatives of the North Idaho College Workforce Training Center, Health and Welfare Department, Consumer Credit Counseling and Lake Pend Oreille School District -- held a workshop at Sandpoint High School for employees left jobless by CEDU's closure. About 25 of CEDU's 101 workers living in Bonner County attended. "Many are still shell-shocked by what happened, and they should be," said Dyck. "I know I am. It's the fourth biggest layoff I've been involved with here, and they never get easier. It hits you square in the pit of your stomach, and it's a devastating blow. "Your job is so much a part of your identify, and when you lose it without even getting your final paycheck, it's a bitter pill to swallow." Employees were told March 24 that CEDU could not meet payroll on Friday. They were not paid for three weeks of work already done, and the wages are included in the company's Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in Delaware. "We're hoping the workshop will give some guidelines to help navigate people through a complex and aggravating situation," said Dyck. "We had an inkling something wasn't right at CEDU, but we weren't prepared for the numbers and the trickle effect this is having. A lot of employees are still in denial over what happened." Neal Davis isn't. Armed with pamphlets about unemployment insurance, job search results, resume tips, and the Workforce Investment Act, Davis is trying to figure out his next move. "I've gone through the whole gamut of emotions, starting with anger, more anger and then simmering anger," said Davis, an Idaho Falls native who worked for CEDU for 2 1/2 years. "I just got my master's degree in social work after five long years, and before the ink even dried on the diploma this happens out of nowhere." Many of those who lost their jobs have spouses who also worked at CEDU, which translates into a devastating loss of two incomes, Labor & Commerce officials said. "A lot of people don't know where to start when something like this happens," said Lisa McCloud of Sandpoint's Commerce & Labor office. "Even finding ground zero for many is difficult. That's why we feel this workshop is a way to get people onto some solid footing." Davis is hoping he'll hit the ground running. He had been doing some part-time social work for a mental health agency in Bonner County that he hopes will turn into a full-time position. "How I look at it is that things have a way of happening for a reason," he said. "Doors close, and new ones open. I feel fortunate. I have a master's degree, and many don't. Things will work out." For many -- including Davis -- the loss of their life's work at CEDU marks a crossroads in their lives most weren't prepared to make or even think about. Though some may be in a little better financial shape than others, no one -- armed with a Master's degree or not -- is ion solid footing at the moment. And that may not come for some time. "Some may decide they'll take a similar type of work out of the county and leave the area," said Dyck. "Others who have roots here or have made it their home won't and might teach for the school district, learn a new profession or do something else entirely. There are some awfully hard choices that will have to be made." Bethany Zimmerman, who runs the Human Resource office in Boise for the Department of Health and Welfare, said the majority of former employees were asking about positions -- any kind -- in the Sandpoint area that offered "stability." "Most don't want to drive to Coeur d'Alene or other areas every day for work," she said. "There are some 300 positions from clerical to accounting that local recruiters are looking to actively fill. But most of the jobs aren't what they have been trained to do." CEDU had operated Ascent, Northwest Academy, Boulder Creek Academy in Boundary County, Milestones in Coeur d'Alene and had a small office in Sandpoint. It closed Rocky Mountain Academy in mid-February, saying it could no longer attract quality staff and therefore could not attract students. POST YOUR OPINION
* All comment posts will encounter a possible delay of up to 24 hours.
|
Bonner County Daily Bee
P.O. Box 159 / Sandpoint, Idaho 83864 / 208-263-9534
Bonner County Daily Bee Online is updated at 10am PST.