Testimonials (click box to view)

The One Stop here in Coshocton County has a great relationship with our local business community and they're willing to play about any part that our local businesses want. Sometimes that can involve something as simple as helping with the application process when they're getting ready to hire and expand. For job seekers it can involve help with interview skills, resume writing, and more.

One situation I recall from maybe 4 or 5 years ago was a local telemarketing business operating out of another state and looking to get into a smaller rural community. They were considering some other communities and the gentleman that was in charge of our economic development at that time was working closely with the One Stop and part of that sales pitch was that they would assist them with getting people ready in the application process and sending them names of people that would be hirable for them.

Businesses are also looking for training and ways to save time and money. The One Stop can sometimes provide both or one or the other. We have also partnered with them on local job fairs and they've done a tremendous job of organizing that. That helps so many of our local businesses and the community in general.

Swivert Stone, Coshocton Mill is a manufacturer of approximately 900 tons per day of corrugating medium. We make and send it all over the country and all over the world. I'm a Human Resources Manager at this facility. My job at this facility is taking care of union relations, public relations, any labor problems, security, and so on. The One Stop in Coshocton is a God-send to us. Whenever we need to hire, we contact them with our requirements and they give us wonderful candidates to choose from.

Recently we were in need of 12 new entry level employees and the One Stop took care of the applications. They had 1,196 applicants for the 12 positions that we were going to fill, and I'm happy to say that we've got excellent candidates.

They handled the pre-screening process where they made sure that we got people that had been in industry. We have people of all walks of life. They take our criteria and they match them and we've had nothing but success from what they've done for us. We make sure we have a diversity effort at this facility so we made sure the diversity issue was also answered.

The staff is more than courteous­ they'll come out to your facility or you can go visit them and you just feel a part of their team. Without a doubt, I would recommend the One Stop because they are professional people that handle the situation in a professional manner which in turn give us the best results possible. In order for us to maintain our position in the worldwide marketplace we have got to have those type of employees to hire at our facility.

Baker's IGA has been in business for 59 years, and was founded by the current owner's father, Eddie Baker, in 1946. I'm the store manager here I've been with Baker's for 14 years and I oversee the day to day operation of the store.

It's been harder and harder to find good people these days and what I've found a lot is that when you're doing reference checks for people, a lot of companies won't give you information anymore, so it's hard to find the right person to fit your needs. By using the One Stop, they help us find who they think will be the right person for particular positions. We tell them exactly what we're looking for, what the position is, what it entails, and they take care of that pre-interview type work.

In fact, recently we hired somebody that had been a part of the job shadow program in the past. We didn't have a position for them at the time they job shadowed, but recently we've been able to hire that person. They re-applied. We already knew that she had done a good job as a result of the previous program and she's worked out pretty well.

They've always been great at the One Stop. Whenever we have a need we call and they respond right away. They get us a person to come down and talk to us right away. We never have to call them back; they've always been quick to take care of our needs.

I would absolutely recommend it because it works great for everybody. It helps those that are trying to find the jobs get placed in the right operations, the right types of jobs. It helps the employer to streamline the process of finding the right people and it gives the One Stop a purpose in the community.

The One Stop is a wonderful opportunity for Muskingum County folks that are looking for jobs to connect with employers. It's a great asset that we have here in our area. The staff here at the One Stop are certainly very knowledgeable and can assist jobseekers with resumes and online searches. They provide an incredible opportunity for those seeking employment to come in and talk one on one with someone that is knowledgeable in the field. All these partnerships have come together underneath one roof to help ­ and the end result is economic development for Muskingum County.

For the past couple of years I've been working at a UAW plant down in New Lexington making tubing. During that time, I actually made more on unemployment than I did working, so I started making moves for a new career. I put in my application down here at the One Stop for the Kellogg Plant, and later I returned to take a test. Of course, you know, with mathematics if you don't use it­ you lose it! So the staff went over a lot of math with me and helped me to get ready for the test. It's a broad based branch here­you can get online yourself, do searches yourself, or they can help you with your mathematics or anything with education. The staff is really great­ there's never a Œno' answer. They were a lot of help. I don't think I'd be where I'm at now without their assistance.

We were acquired by Kellogg in 1999 ­ previous to that we were known as Worthington Foods, Incorporated. We had two plants, one in the Worthington, Ohio area and one here in Zanesville. Originally the Zanesville plant made primarily burgers and that type of product, but with the closing of our Worthington plant over the last few months, we have now brought in the product lines that were made there. We've gone through a huge hiring upswing because of the doubling of the plant size and all the hiring efforts that we did, which is how the One Stop came into the process.

The One Stop was great. We had to hire over a 100 positions and new associates for the plant. So the One Stop allowed us to come in and do our testing at their facility, and they expanded their hours for us, allowed us to use their room space. They were just great in helping us out. We had over 5,000 applications ­ huge amount of applicants that we were taking in.

I would recommend the One Stop to any employer that was needing services. Their facility is great, they are very easy to work with, have a multitude of rooms and all kinds of assistance.

Basically we have two customers: one is the job seeker and the other is the employer. Any customer that comes through our front door, we're ready to help put them back to work. On the other side ­from the employer's side­ we want to help them get qualified applicants to fill positions within our county so that jobs stay here in Muskingum, County. We're very fortunate in our county to have a long term collaboration between county and state agencies and some of our training providers are here. It's really been an easy transition into the One Stop system here. We've got all of our employment entities and services located in one facility.

For about the past 10 months we've been working with a large manufacturer in our county that was adding over 100 jobs and we were able to provide services such as taking mass applications for them. We took over 6,000 applications through our facility and that pulled the traffic away from their facility and to ours. We were also able to provide them space so that they could have an orientation for prospective employees. And we were also able to provide our resource room to use for their online testing.

When I have a new, prospective businesses coming to the Chamber, whether they're looking for demographics or workforce information, I bring in Opportunity Links. They will go visit the site, see what is available, and then pull our resources together and say, you need training in this area, we'll be able to match you here. It's nice that there's someplace to go that has a knowledge base of the workforce here and the skill set and is able to match that with incoming companies. For example, I had a client about three weeks ago that came in. I brought Opportunity Links into the meeting as well and now he is now going to locate here and he's been able to find the workforce that he needs.

I think the One Stop is a vital asset to the Licking County community and not only for new businesses coming in, but for businesses that are already here. I've been able to use that as a tool for economic development in Licking County, because they have the information needed on the workforce which is very, very important when a new customer or client is coming to town. It's nice to be able to have an organization that I can call to get immediate information on the workforce in Licking County.

At Licking-Knox Goodwill Industries we provide employment to individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment. I'm the Director of Administration, and I'm in charge of our service areas such as Human Resources, Transportation and Maintenance, Finance, and Rehab. Here at the One Stop we've been able to find quality employees to meet our work force, service areas, and administrative office needs.We currently have about 350 people in our workforce.

We are a partner with One Stop, and by partner I mean we're out here on a weekly basis to talk to the clients about job opportunities and services that we can provide. We're out here to assist the work force in any way we possibly can. They provide a lot of great opportunities here. They help individuals write resumes, study and prepare for their G.E.D., take training classes on job retention skills, job interviewing skills, computer classes, and more.

As a One Stop Partner, we each provide different services, so in this case we're able to link our services together here at one convenient location and we're able to better serve the individuals that come in the doors here. The One Stop provides invaluable services to our community.

When first I came to the One Stop, I was working at a factory that was going out of business. They were closing the doors and going to China. At that time, they did bring the One Stop in to let us know what the opportunities were here for us. And I was bold, you know, being the age I am and the wisdom I have, I felt that I did not need a high school diploma. I've always had a good job, always been able to find a job without it. And, I went to one of the staff here and explained to them, I don't need my G.E.D. I've always had a good job without one. I won't need your services. Well, it was couple months later, I went to her and I ate crow. I realized I needed a G.E.D. I didn't have the diploma and that's what you need today to get a job. I came to the One Stop and they gave me the opportunity to go to school to get my G.E.D. at no cost to me. The teachers were awesome. They were great. They worked one on one with me. They helped me get my G.E.D. within 6 months. My first time that I took the test­ the pre-test­ I passed! That was an exhilarating day for me because I didn't think I was smart enough. The One Stop showed me opportunities. They had an opportunity for me to go to an organization that would build occupational services. They taught me how to use a computer. I learned to type. They provided my transportation for this. They provided clothing for me to wear. I got the training that I needed within 8 weeks. I had a certificate that I had completed this program. Within 3 months I got a job working for the company I'm working for now. I'm now in a job that I enjoy.

I get probably 99% of my employees from One Stop. I deal directly with their staff there. Because we're an on-demand business a lot of times I might need 5 to 10 people per shift, so I do a lot of hiring through One Stop and if it wasn't for them I don't really know what I'd do because we're not in a very big area so it would be very difficult for me to place ads in the paper, and go through the interviewing process ­ let alone all the phone calls I would need to handle.

All I have to do is pick up the phone and call, let them know I need more applicants and they get them for me as soon as possible. They're friendly and very cooperative. If I have a problem they go out of their way to help me and they work with me in getting references from other employers.

We are part of a workforce development agency that is a four-county consortium. We work together with Guernsey, Muskingum, Coshocton and Licking Counties. The Opportunity Center is part of a One Stop system called the East Central Ohio Opportunity Centers.

Some of the services available at the Guernsey County One Stop include individual training accounts, on-the-job training, and customized training. We also have youth programs running in different schools in our community. We have a youth leadership program where we bring kids in and let them see what kind of services are available in this community, what kind of jobs are available in this community. We also teach them a variety of different work skills including how to carry themselves during a job interview. We offer a holistic approach to community development and for a workforce development for our residents.

Our partners work together as a team by developing a system of cross referral so each partner brings some unique services to the table. We're able to meet the unique needs of clients and businesses because we have a partner at the table that provides a unique service.

We had a situation where a steel manufacturer closed its doors and moved somewhere else. We had our economic developers that were marketing that building, marketing that space and we were able to find another steel manufacturer to come into our area. We were able to step in and assist them as they trained their work force to get their business started. As a result of that community effort, the people that had lost their jobs are now re-employed.

We serve all clients. We help people regardless of income standards, regardless of personal situations. If somebody comes into our agency they're able to utilize our computers free of charge, utilize our meeting rooms, utilize our copiers, job search, whatever their individual needs are. When it comes to people with a little more intensive services they can come in and utilize our on the job training programs, our individual training accounts or services like those.

We can help employers with their job searches, we can help employers collect resumes, we can even do initial screenings. So, we can pick up some of the human resource functions that employers often times don't have time for in their busy schedules.

A couple years ago on New Year's Eve, I, came home from work early and my wife said, "It was nice of the boss to leave you out early so we could get to the party earlier." And, I said, "Well, it's not as good news as you may think." He layed me off and it wasn't the first time I was layed off. My wife is a nurse and had quit her full time position and was working part time. I was covering all the benefits at that time, medical benefits and so forth. So, when I walked in with that news we didn't know what to say to each other. It was kind of devastating. We didn't talk for a couple of days actually. She then had an idea, and came to me and said she'd heard about a program where the Government would help me with tuition and books if I wanted to go back to school. So I came down to the One Stop center and started asking around and seeing what my options were. They had what they called a displaced worker program that would help with tuition and books if you wanted to go back and pursue a 2 year degree in college. So I did attend a couple of years and came out with an associate's degree in business. I ended up with full time work and the rest is history, as they say!

But it was a good opportunity ­ what they did was give me that opportunity to see if I could accomplish something like that and it was quite an accomplishment in my life. I had the opportunity to go to college after high school back in the 70's, and like everybody in the 70's, when I got out of high school I didn't want to hear about it. You know, ŒI'll get a job don't worry about it.' So when my wife suggested I go back to school, I actually got choked up because I didn't think that was an option. And she actually pursued full time work. Went back to work full time herself to get the medical benefits for us which allowed me to take 2 years off. I was a full time student for 2 years. So, at my late age I was able to go back, and graduated with honors, which was really neat. Immediately­ the week after I graduated­ I literally had interviews and sent out resumes.The people at the college as well as the One Stop helped me put together a nice resume. So I'm happy with what I'm doing now. I'm on the road selling printing products for a local company that's been in the area for some 90 years. It's interesting and a lot of fun.

It costs nothing to walk in here and get advice. They're very professional people and everything's confidential. They have a lot of opportunity here for anyone and any situation that you might be in. Whether you're a student just out of high school or an older person, a displaced worker, whatever. They can help lead you in a direction that you need to go.

My initial contact with Opportunity Links is when I came in for an appointment with an Employment Specialist after I had been laid off from work. I had never been unemployed or gone a day without a job. I was panicking and wondering how I would make ends meet. The Employment Specialist assured me everything would be alright and I had nothing to worry about and I felt genuinely better about my situation.The Employment Specialist helped me fine tune my resume and create cover letters. She assisted me in contacting companies with available positions that fit my experience. She left no stones unturned. I would have never found employment with the right pay scale and wonderful benefits package without Opportunity Links assistance. For the first time in 15 years I have medical and dental benefits and much more. I can say without hesitation, I am ecstatic to be working at my new company.