"It really is a place where everybody knows your name. You can buy with trust from people you know who are dedicated to their business. Our employees have a work ethic that is carried over into our personal customer service."

– Carolyn Glaub, Center of Music and Art

In Jefferson County, employers will find an available, affordable and productive work force. The area is home to a bountiful population of skilled workers who are commuting out of the area to work, unemployed, and under employed. Award winning local schools are turning out graduates that out-perform state and national averages.

Our institutions of higher learning and technical education have been recognized for their quality programs and are eager to develop the curriculum students and employers need to succeed in the business world.


Available
• Employers will find an abundant work force in Jefferson County Over 27,000 people have applied for 600 jobs at the Wal-Mart distribution center, which opened in 2003. That's more than 40 applicants for every job.

• The domestic steel industry has been reducing its work force. Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel and Mittal Steel (formerly Weirton Steel) employ less than a third of the work force they did a generation ago. A downsizing steel industry is a fact of life that has left many skilled employees with too few job prospects.

• The Jefferson County work force includes about 30,300 people. When the contiguous counties are included, the work force reaches over 150,000 people.

• Click here for a list of private employers in Jefferson County.

• Nearly one out of every six workers in Jefferson County must cross the Ohio River in order to go to work. Many would prefer to work closer to home. Click here to see where the over 5,000 Jefferson County out-commuters are going.


Affordable
• Employers will find affordable labor in the Steubenville-Weirton Metropolitan Statistical Area. See the table below for comparisons to other communities in the region:


This will be updated to more current date soon

Productive Labor

• Jefferson County's newest major employer has found the work force to be exceptional. Wal-Mart Distribution Center 7017 General Manager Fred Edmonds has stated the productivity here exceeds the five other Wal-Mart locations where he has worked. View a short testimonial video about Jefferson County's skilled workforce by clicking here.

• While many large domestic steel companies have succumbed to bankruptcy in recent years (Forty-one have declared bankruptcy since 1997), Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel, working in cooperation with the United Steelworkers of America, emerged from bankruptcy in August of 2003 and is now turning a profit. The company has three facilities in Jefferson County and is in the process of building the largest and most efficient electric arc furnace in the world. Through cooperation and a commitment to get the job done, the Jefferson County work force has helped Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel be nimble in reacting to the changing and increasingly competitive global marketplace.

• Values learned at home and skills taught in the Jefferson County schools are preparing young people for the work world. Jefferson County high schools have an 88.6 percent graduation rate. The Ohio average is 81.2 percent. College placement tests show student achievement:



• Steubenville schools achieved some impressive accomplishments in 2003-2004. Wells and Lincoln elementary schools in Steubenville have been named National Blue Ribbon Schools. Three of six elementary schools were named Schools of Promise by the Ohio Department of Education. Steubenville High School football and baseball teams were runners-up in the state championship games.

• Jefferson County Joint Vocational School (JCJVS) trains nearly 400 11th and 12th graders every year for technical careers in 18 fields, including: CISCO networking, Computer Aided Design (CAD), Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Machining, Welding & Metal Fabrication, and Graphic Arts. JCJVS has an 86% job placement rate. Twice in the past three years, a team of JVJCS Senior Computer Aided Drafting and Design students have won the National SkillsUSA Tech Prep Competition for the technology component, computer setup, organization and overall demonstration of their redesign project.

• Jefferson Community College (JCC) has an enrollment of about 1,600 students that are either working toward vocational certifications, associates degrees or earning up to two years of college credits before transferring to a four-year college or university and completing their bachelors degree. JCC offers over 20 program areas of study, including: Electronics Engineering, CISCO Networking, Programmable Logic Controllers, Software Engineering, Microsoft Certified Systems, Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing Trades Technology, Instrumental & Control Technology, Robotics Technology and Utilities Service Production & Maintenance Trade Technology. Through their customized business and industry training programs, JCC helped train 670 workers in existing area companies last year. High school graduates earning at least a 2.5 GPA can continue their education for free in the fall at JCC under Horizon Grant program.

• Franciscan University of Steubenville is a private Catholic university offering undergraduate and graduate programs in liberal arts, business, health sciences and theology. Franciscan has an enrollment of nearly 2,300 and has been growing every year. Franciscan has been recognized by U.S. & World Report Magazine as having one of the top Masters Degree programs in the Midwest. Students come from every state and over 25 countries to attend. Franciscan offers a Commuter Grant that provides a 50% discount to students graduating from area high schools who enroll full-time at Franciscan as freshmen. The Commuter Grant is available to these students for four years.