LOCAL JOBS PROGRAM THREATENED BY CUTS

The Southeast Missouri Private Industry Council and its job training programs are on the firing line in the federal budget battle.

The U.S. Labor Department has projected the council's funding could be cut by 54 percent for the fiscal year beginning July 1. As part of the cuts, a $1.3 million summer jobs program for low-income youth would be eliminated.

Ron Swift, executive director of the Cape Girardeau-based council, said the threatened funding cuts would have a major impact on the industry council.

It depends heavily on federal funds. Currently, $3.4 million of its $4 million budget comes from Washington.

The budget ax could leave the council with $1.5 million in federal funding for the coming year, said Swift.

The cuts could mean job layoffs and major reductions in job training programs in the 13 counties of Southeast Missouri served by the industry council, Swift said. The region stretches from Ste. Genevieve and St. Francois counties to the north to Pemiscot and Dunklin counties to the south.

The Southeast Missouri Private Industry Council has the third largest allocation of funds for such councils in Missouri, ranking behind only Kansas City and St. Louis.

Swift said federal funds are allocated on the basis of need. "We have some incredible poverty and incredible need for training programs in our 13 counties."

Swift said he understands the budget-cutting mood of Congress. In the long run, he said, the budget ax could make job training programs more efficient.

"It may be a godsend in disguise, but right now the way business has been done through the private industry council will change. It may mean a leaner, meaner organization, but something will change," he said.

Until Congress makes some final decisions, Swift said, his agency will remain in financial limbo.

The council and its eight-member staff handle the paperwork, subcontracting the job training programs to vocational-technical schools and government agencies such as the East Missouri Action Agency.

The summer jobs program serves low-income persons ages 14 to 21. "It is designed to give them an opportunity to experience what work is like," said Swift.

In many cases, low-income residents don't have good job skills. The government programs provide classroom training for participants before placing them in various jobs.

In many cases, participants work temporarily for government or not-for-profit agencies.

Swift said the council also has other programs that would face major funding cuts.

They include a year-round job training program for adults age 22 and older and a program to retrain laid-off workers.

"We send a lot of people back to vocational schools and community colleges and some to four-year degree programs," Swift said.

"In a nutshell, what we try to do is take people who are basically unemployable and create an employable person who is self-sufficient."

The retraining program is important in this region, where a number of manufacturing plants have closed, Swift said.

"We have an incredible number of people being laid off their jobs," he said.