Impressions Marketing Group manager Randy Roark needs to hire
20 people, but he cannot seem to find them.
Roark shared his dilemma with the Workforce Partnership Committee on Monday.
“That was part of my reason for coming to this,” he said. “We’re looking at New Bern, Rocky Mount, Williamston; stretching out because we can’t find the skill sets here.”
Impressions Marketing Group produces and distributes display décor and fixtures. The company specializes in designing and making the signs found in retail stores.
The company has been in Beaufort County for 12 years, and it employs 137 people. It has the demand and the equipment to expand, but it needs to hire carpenters and cabinet makers. The position would pay about $14 an hour.
Problems like Roark’s are exactly why the partnership was formed.
“I think it’s fantastic you have the opportunity to grow your company, and the people at this table can help,” Beaufort County Economic Developer Bob Heuts told Roark.
Committee Chairman Rocky Jacobs told Roark the committee would make it happen.
“We’ve got the people here — if we could just get them the basic skills so we don’t keep hearing the same story. We can change that,” he said.
Members of the committee had long-term and immediate solutions to Roark’s staffing issue.
“They’re very energetic,” Roark said after the meeting. “You could tell that they really have a passion about what they want to do and where they want to go.”