As with any debate over economic incentives, the question often is asked….who gets the jobs?
That question came up during the debate over $500,000 in incentives for Solstas Lab Partners, which the High Point City Council approved last week, with Guilford County Commissioners following suit.
“We’ve added about 300 jobs in the last two years. Not all of those people obviously came from High Point specifically, but we look at this entire market, just to find the folks that have the skills that we need,” said Pam Randleman, vice president of human resources for Solstas. “We would certainly be open to providing those opportunities wherever we can find the folks that have those skill sets.”
Randleman said company representatives have met with Guilford Technical Community College and the Guilford County Workforce Development Board to determine what skills will be required for the new jobs, as well as what training opportunities are available for current and prospective employees.
“Certainly, (the board) has always helped us with that, and I’m sure in this case will as well, to make sure as many High Point applicants as possible go through the process and get to the consideration stage,” said Loren Hill, president of the High Point Economic Development Corp.
Commissioner Billy Yow raised the same question during the debate over incentives for Honda Aircraft. Yow argued —as the N&R reports — that Honda “would hire many people from outside the area and the jobs would go to the highly educated, not the average jobless person.”
