(via Iowa Capital Dispatch) – Des Moines Area Community College is working to connect workers from the soon-to-close Perry Tyson Foods plant with education and employment resources as the college prepares for the possibility of impacts to its own programming. In the wake of Tyson announcing the closure of its Perry pork processing facility in mid-March, DMACC and other local and state agencies have coordinated with the city to set up resource fairs and partnerships with the goal of giving those impacted by the closure a way forward, hopefully without going too far away, college officials said.

The DMACC board of trustees spoke with Eddie Diaz, director of the DMACC Perry VanKirk Career Academy, and DMACC Business Solutions Consultant Aaron Chittenden Monday about steps taken so far and what the future holds for the community and the college’s programs. The City of Perry is leading efforts to collaborate and offer support where needed, Chittenden said, alongside a local team that includes DMACC staff, the town’s economic development group and Greater Dallas County Development Alliance.

A wider group that meets weekly to discuss the response also includes the Dallas County Hospital, the school board and local utility partners. Diaz said they plan to start running a resource center for people who need help with unemployment proceedings or other tasks. The community has already hosted one job and resource fair, Diaz said, with more planned in mid-May and early June. This first fair, which was attended by 300 people, focused on trying to connect people with local jobs. Future fairs will expand the areas where employers are based to 50 miles, then across the state.

(Photo by Brooklyn Draisey/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

Employers from all over the Midwest have flocked to Perry, however, and Diaz said almost 150 companies and organizations tried to attend the fair, representing 5,000 open jobs across the region. DMACC is currently working to match Tyson employees with training programs in welding, CNA certification and English language learning courses. College officials say they hope to provide workers with the skills that local employers are looking for in order to stem the flow of people leaving the area to find jobs.

One program that Tyson employees were able to enroll in for free courtesy of the company was DMACC’s special industrial maintenance training. Denson said Tyson paid its employees’ tuition to the program, but there are other sources of funding that can be found to help keep people enrolling. Chittenden said the college is also tapping into its Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program and venture school to collaborate with local businesses and encourage Tyson employees who may wish to start a small business to get some training through DMACC.

Diaz said about 1,300 jobs will be lost with the plant closure, which Tyson has said is scheduled for June 28 but discussions have caused him and others to expect it to happen closer to the first of the month. Despite Tyson offering incentives for employees to stay until the closure, he said some are already leaving. The Perry Community School District has just under 300 students with a family member employed at the plant, he said, and he expects the district will see a drop in enrollment. This could carry over to the Perry VanKirk Career Academy, Diaz said, as they work with a large number of Perry high school students.

With all of the different employers both based in and visiting Perry trying to recruit workers, Diaz said they’re hoping to offer an array of training opportunities to help people qualify for available jobs.