Coaches for laid off workers face layoffs themselves
Up to 32 people charged with helping laid off workers revamp resumes and get new training are now the target of a layoff themselves.
The workers, employed by Illinois workNet Centers, provide support to the newly unemployed in Kane, Kendall and DeKalb Counties.
They and the centers are funded by a federal grant handed out by the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, and administered by Kane County under a deal reached by the board chairmen of all three counties.
That agreement was signed years ago by chairmen who are no longer in office, and now the state wants the current chairmen to sign a new deal.
So far, though, all attempts to strike a deal have been stymied by a power struggle.
Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay said she's asking the other counties to accept increased accountability and liability for the funds used within their borders. She disagrees with a measure in the new agreement that would create what she calls "duplicative administrative roles."
"That is adding more bureaucracy, and that is not a solution," McConnaughay said. She would not say which county is gumming up the process, but Kane County staff pointed to DeKalb as the culprit during a recent meeting with the county board's Human Services Committee.
DeKalb County Board Chairman Ruth Anne Tobias was unavailable for comment.
Until a new agreement is inked, the state will withhold about $2.5 million from the agencies, including money to pay the salaries of the 32 workers.
Human Services Committee Chairman Mark Davoust, of St. Charles, said the cost of the employee salaries is too much for the county to absorb while it waits for the chairmen to work out a deal.
"Either this gets resolved, or these people are out of work," Davoust said.
McCraven said the funding must be released by the end of March, or all the employees will be laid off. That will leave less help for the unemployed at a time when layoffs at private companies are plentiful. Much of the blame lies with the state, McConnaughay said.
"This is just an outrageous time for any state agency to be withholding funds for a service," McConnaughay said. "Whatever game is being played, now is not the time to play it."
Recent Kane County layoffs/closures
• Westell Technology - 224 employees
• SKF Sealing Solutions - 169 employees
• Emerson Power Transmission - 125 employees
• Scruto Cement Construction - 122 employees
• J.N. Moser - 113 employees
• Altivity Packaging, LLC- 105 employees
• Armour-Eckrich Meats, LLC- 84 employees
• Qualex - 83 employees
• Freedom Imaging Systems, Inc. - 80 employees
• Elgiloy Specialty Metals - 77 employees
• Pier 1 Imports - 77 employees
• Ibiden Circuits of America Corp. - 64 employees
• WMH Tool Group - 60 employees
• Citigroup - 51 employees
• Canon USA - 43 employees
• Otto Engineering - 30 employees
• Holmes Industries - 27 employees
• Plote Construction - 27 employees
• Luse-Stevenson Co. - 23 employees
• IHC Construction Companies - 18 employees
• Grand Victoria - 17 employees
• Omron Automotive Electronics - 15 employees
• PA Staffing - 15 employees
• Richard Wilcox, Inc. - 14 employees
• Saturn - 14 employees
• Bison Gear & Engineering Corp. - 13 employees
• Elgin Industries - 13 employees
• Henry Pratt Company - 13 employees
• Dynacast, Inc. - 12 employees
• Capsonic Group - 11 employees
• Creative Electronics & Software - 11 employees
• Safety Kleen - 11 employees
• American Demolition Corporation - 10 employees
• Anthony Roofing - 10 employees
• Cobra Metals - 10 employees
• DuKane Industries - 10 employees
• Global Field Services - 10 employees
• Labor Ready Midwest, Inc. - 10 employees
• Measurement Incorporated - 10 employees
Total employees impacted: 1,831