Dear Editor,
I suppose I’m one of the lucky ones who knew when I was a kid what I wanted to do career-wise. I just liked destroying stuff with a hammer. Whenever my parents updated the furniture in our Ulster County home, I liked breaking up the old furniture and making something new out of it.
My deconstruction hobby became my profession, reconstructing and building new homes. For more than 18 years, since I was fresh out of high school, I have managed my own construction business as a full-service general contractor throughout Ulster County, including in Accord, Kerhonkson, Woodstock, Hurley, and Stone Ridge.
I’ve managed to survive the ups and downs of the economy, often relying on temporary workers or part-time employees to get the jobs done right. But one thing I know for sure: I would be doing a lot more business if I could find more workers. I am turning down two or three jobs a week – major renovation projects on kitchens and bathrooms or new construction – because I simply do not have the manpower.
And it’s not just me that’s having a hard time finding workers. Here in the Hudson Valley, I see construction labor shortages every day. Plumbers, licensed electricians, heating and air conditioning and support personnel they need, are in short supply. The construction industry is not alone. Agriculture is a major part of our economy in upstate New York, and here in Ulster County, we are a magnet for tourism. Located just 90 minutes from Manhattan, visitors come all over the world to see some of our natural beauty and hike some of the best trails in the country while enjoying our many breweries and farm-to-table restaurants. But these local businesses are struggling. It’s just a fact that hotels, restaurants, bars, spas, and other service industries are looking for employees. And no one knows where to turn for help in finding new hires.
But there is a solution that would help other employers and small business owners like me who need workers. The fix could be provided by newly arrived asylum-seekers from deeply-troubled countries who are looking to escape violence or abject poverty, to restart their lives and find work to support their families.
Let’s extend them a hand of welcome, instead of waving them away and saying, “not here.” Let’s help them find work. Let those of us looking straight into the eye of a worker shortage hire them so that our businesses and local economies can keep growing. It is not hard to imagine a good job training program helping get available workers ready to do these jobs. Giving the new arrivals a chance to work is the solution for all of us – it helps these new arrivals, but it also helps local, lifelong Hudson Valley residents and upstate New Yorkers like me
As a life-long Republican, I can say this issue should not be about politics, it should be about how to help communities, employers, and recent arrivals work together for our economic and family security. My hope is that government leaders and politicians – Republicans and Democrats together – can help communities put aside the fear and anger, and instead find solutions so that recent arrivals can work, while also expanding the labor pool for industries like mine that need more employees. It would help families get settled and be able to support themselves and improve our economies.
It’s a win-win, any way you look at it.
Howard Jarvis
Accord
