CENTERVILLE —
The Workforce Development office may have closed, but those seeking employment still have options.
One of them is a staffing agency that has contracts to hire employees for 10 Centerville and Albia companies.
“It doesn’t cost people anything to come in and look for a job,” said Ruth Castor, the office manager at Jacobson Staffing Company. “We don’t charge any prospective employee any fees of any kind, not even when they go on the job.”
Castor said she currently averages about 20 walk-ins a day by people looking for work. The staffing agency is not necessarily a replacement for Workforce Development, she said, because her primary duty is to place employees with the companies with which she has contracts.
But she still tries to help. If someone applies to her staffing agency and she hears about a job for which that person is especially suited, she said, she passes on the information.
“When [Workforce Development] left, that’s where we started getting a lot of walk-ins because people weren’t sure where to go,” Castor said. “But I always have to explain I’m a staffing company and not really a job force. If I do hear of something, though … I’ll let them know.”
Castor said one of her main goals is to expand the number of “clients,” in other words, companies with whom she contracts. That way, she said, she will be able to help more people find work.
“I want to have more clients to be able to have more of a variety of jobs for people to be hired into,” she said.
She added that while several of her clients are factories and machine shops, she doesn’t yet have as many clients in the clerical field as she would like.
Currently, Castor said, she has 95 employees, meaning they are employed by Jacobson while they are working on a temporary basis for the client companies. After 60 days of employment, employees can apply for health insurance through Jacobson, she said.
“My main position has been for temporary staffing in hopes, though, that people will become permanent,” Castor explained. “If they have good job performance and attendance, I’ve converted several over to permanent positions. They don’t have to stay temporary forever.”
Castor said the client companies are charged a percentage for the staffing service that is based on factors like their size and the number of people they want hired. Contracts between the staffing agency and clients are reviewed yearly. She said any companies that are interested in the service can contact her for more information on the pricing.
For an employee, the process for finding employment through the Jacobson Staffing Company starts with filling out a generic application. The information is put into a computer system, then Castor reviews it and starts comparing it with jobs her clients are looking to fill. When she finds an opening for which the applicant is qualified, she interviews the applicant.
If she thinks the applicant would be good for the job after the first interview, she sets up an interview between that potential employee and the client company. She said she usually picks three to four applicants for the company to interview for each position to give the company a choice.
Jacobson Staffing Company first came to Centerville in 2010 to work with Lee Container. The agency moved into its current offices in August 2011. Before that, Castor said, she had office space in the Lee Container plant for about 10 months.
Greg Fenton, the plant manager at Lee Container, said the plant normally hires workers on a temporary basis before they become permanent. The plant brought Jacobson Staffing to Centerville to meet that need.
“We were searching for a temporary service that was economical and could provide us with good-quality workers,” Fenton said. “It’s worked out excellent for us.”
Castor, who grew up in Seymour, said she moved back to this area to take care of her mother after living in Phoenix for 20 years. She said she started working for Jacobson after responding to an advertisement when the Des Moines office was looking for a person to work with Lee Container.
Castor got plenty of staffing experience when she worked for the state of Arizona as the manager of the motor vehicle division’s records. She had 100 employees working in seven diverse units, such as microfilming, preparing court packets, doing data entry, staffing a DUI unit and a working with the public at a customer service counter. Before that she worked with farmers at a financial institution, sold real estate and worked in parent education. She estimated she has worked in customer service for 45 years.
Working at a staffing agency is just one of the ways Castor is helping others. She and her daughter, Tanecia Walker, have a non-profit in Seymour. Resources for Living offers several services, including a food pantry, parent education, family activities and employment resources. Resources for Living is located at 116 N. 4th St. in Seymour.
“I’ve been helping people forever, so this was just a plus for me to try to help people to find jobs,” she said.
Castor said she hopes to add an employee at Jacobson Staffing Company in the future if the business grows. Right now, she and receptionist Laurie Simmons comprise the office’s staff.
Jacobson Staffing Company is located in Alpine Plaza at 717 N. 18th St. Unit 1. The phone is (641) 437-0590, and Castor’s email address is Ruth.Castor@jacobsonco.com.
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Related Photos
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Jacobson Staffing Company hires employees to work at 10 Centerville and Albia companies. The office staff consists of office manager Ruth Castor, left, and receptionist Laurie Simmons, right. Photo by Brooke Sherrard/Daily Iowegian
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