Tagged: Unemployment

The Dayton area has lost almost 40,000 manufacturing jobs in the last decade. Across the Miami Valley, people are going back to school to train for that they hope will be a wave of new, green jobs. In Piqua enrollment at the Upper Valley Joint Vocational School has doubled in the last year - in part because of an innovative new program at the school's adult division. It's called Alternative Energy and Green Systems Management, and it's the first program of its kind in the state.

There are some signs that the job market is improving, but longer periods of unemployment mean that many people are replying on support from local agencies. Last fiscal year The Clark County Department of Job and Family Services faced a $3 million deficit and a 10% increase in cases.

"It's always awkward for us because we feel like the spotlight should stay on the workers," says filmmaker Steven Bognar talking about his film's Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Short Film.

Bognar and two-time Oscar nominee, Julia Reichert received word this morning that their film, The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant was nominated. The 40 minute film focuses on GM workers at the Moraine Assembly Plant. Reichert says the workers played a key role in making the film.

Thursday night, Wilmington officially became a "Green Enterprise Zone". It adopted the plan in response to DHL moving its operations and taking more than 9000 jobs elsewhere. That's where Mark Rembert and Taylor Stuckert come in. They're two recent college graduates who put aside their plans for the Peace Corps to help save their hometown by helping Wilmington go green.

A report released Wednesday shows staggering numbers of jobs lost in Ohio. According to the "Jobs and Earning Trends in Ohio Counties" report, Montgomery county and the Dayton/Springfield area were hit harder than other urban area in the state.

The report shows that Montgomery County has lost 41.5% of manufactuing jobs over the past seven years. Diane Shannon is an economist for the city of Dayton, and she says this isn't exactly new news.