Opening Doors To A New Career

Oct. 18, 2011
Washington man gets locksmith training through WorkSource Skagit Career Center, which reimburses employers for a portion of workers' salaries during on-the-job training

Oct. 18--BURLINGTON -- When Dan Carroll was laid off from his construction job two years ago, he thought he'd just wait out the "rainy season," and work would pick up again.

But when a locksmith job in Burlington, WA, opened up, someone at the WorkSource Skagit Career Center suggested he apply. Carroll, 26, didn't know a thing about making keys or picking locks, but that didn't matter.

He qualified for an On-the-Job Training program through WorkSource, which reimburses employers for a portion of workers' salaries while they're training to do the new job. Though Carroll's construction skills are no longer in high demand, he's now an experienced locksmith at A-1 Mobile Lock & Key in Burlington.

"I was really thinking I would wait for the rain to end and go back to construction," Carroll said, adding that he's thankful he changed his mind. "I've been here ever since."

On Monday morning, Carroll was joined in the shop by a new "new guy," 23-year-old Daryl Keith, who is training to become the shop's sixth locksmith.

Keith had been looking for jobs in Arizona and here for the past six months when he stumbled upon this one online. His last job was working as an auto locksmith making keys for a car dealership.

Christina Olson, vice president and owner of A-1 Mobile, said finding someone with a background in the locksmith trade made him a perfect fit. To be eligible for the program's funding, the trainee must be unemployed and unlikely to return to his or her former job. Though Keith had some locksmith experience, he will need three to four months of training before he can work on his own.

"Our field is so specialized. It's not like plumbing or electrician work, where you go through a two-year certification program," Olson said. "Anyone can really do it if you have the right skill set."

Olson said hiring and training a new worker is a big risk, even though business is good right now and the shop needs the extra help. Having access to funds from WorkSource, Olson said, helped her "bite the bullet" and hire Keith sooner than she might have otherwise.

Annette Booth, owner and agent at The Booth Agency of Allstate Insurance Co. in Mount Vernon, is using Work-Source's training program to help pay the salary of an insurance agent who's studying to get licensed.

She first used the program two and a half years ago to train an agent with no insurance background. WorkSource staff said on-the-job training funds have been around in various forms since the 1960s, but the program has been emphasized even more during the recession as a way to help employers put people back to work.

Booth is using the program's funding to train an employee who is licensed in property and casualty insurance and working toward a license to offer life and disability insurance.

But she said the program does more than help reimburse her for the trainee's salary.

"It's also great to get people back in the workforce with trained skills," Booth said. "There's a lot of service jobs in our country and economy, so the better trained we can get people in general, whether it's insurance or technical jobs, I think the better off the workforce and workplace will be."

Whitney Pipkin can be reached at 360-416-2112 or at wpipkin@ skagitpublishing.com. Follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ biz_svh.

Copyright 2011 - Skagit Valley Herald, Mount Vernon, Wash.