
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, February 12, 1995                   TAG: 9502130036
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

GROUPS TAKE ON WORKER TRAINING IN MARTINSVILLE

Determined not to see their job base erode further after painful layoffs last year, and realizing the need for a well-trained work force, Martinsville area leaders began aggressively mapping out a strategy last summer.

It included studying how the school system prepares students for jobs, encouraging more communication between businesses, creating a shell building for fledgling companies and getting input from all residents of the community.

``The community decided they would not just sit passively by and watch themselves die as they moved into the 21st century,'' consultant Bob Humkey said.

A focus group that met for 31/2 months drafted its suggestions in November, and Saturday two new groups were launched to implement those ideas in the next year.

One group will work with schools and community colleges to establish a new educational performance standard and certificate process for workers. Members of this task force include teachers, principals, college professors and industry leaders.

The other group, the Martinsville-Henry County Action Council, is charged with - among other things - starting a community ``visioning'' process to get residents' input, establishing a program to increase the skills of industry leaders, forming an education focus round table and coordinating an annual education and industry summit.

The groups include people from ``the factory floor ... to the chamber of commerce,'' Humkey said. Former Virginia Secretary of Natural Resources Elizabeth Haskell will be chairwoman of the Action Council.

``The Action Council is a very good chance to improve jobs and the morale in this community,'' Haskell said.

The Martinsville area took a deep hit last year when layoffs of 3,000 people began in two of the largest employers in the area, Sara Lee Knit Products and DuPont's nylon plant. The area's total work force is about 42,000 people, and Martinsville has the largest per capita pool of manufacturing workers in the country.

Martinsville wants to keep its manufacturing base strong, Humkey said, but also expand into other fields, such as telecommunications, which are being lured to Martinsville.

The task force and the Action Council's job is to set up in the next year the infrastructure and resources needed for the community to reach its goal.

The community wants to ``change the direction of the momentum'' following the layoffs, Humkey said, and the two groups are to pursue their goals ``with a terrific sense of urgency.''

The original ``community-in-transition'' focus group that came up with the goals for the two groups to pursue will present its report again Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the DuPont plant for the public to see. The new groups will hold their first meetings after the public presentations.

by CNB