Alabama green industry looks for workers

Some state offi­cials joked Tuesday they feel like matchmakers, trying to con­nect eager job seekers with po­tential employers wanting able-bodied applicants. But there are no long-term commitments here. Many of these jobs are seasonal.

"I feel like I'm running eHar­mony, trying to make a good match," said John McMillan, the state's commission for Agricul­ture and Industries. And in the wake of the state's new immigra­tion law, many employers are desperate for good matches.

McMillan estimates that the immigration law has created 100,000 job vacancies in all sec­tors statewide. About 2,000 of them are in agribusiness in south Alabama.

About 200 people, many of them prospective employers ea­ger to hear options for finding la-bor, were present in Mobile on Tuesday afternoon for a meeting that McMillan orga­nized with the South Alaba­ma Nursery Association and the Alabama Nursery and Landscape Association.

In 2007, the green indus­try contributed almost $2.9 billion to the state's economy and employed 43,000 Alaba­mians, according to the Ala­bama Farmers Federation. The average wages cited Tuesday were between $10 and $12 an hour.

But employers said the in­dustry's busy season begins next month -- with fewer po­tential workers.

"The concern is that there is no labor," said Debra Green of Green Nurseries and Landscape Design. Es­tablished in 1932, it is the oldest business in Fairhope. And right now, it needs good workers.

It employs five to 10 peo­ple at a time for what Green admits is hard, manual labor. It had legal immigrants, she said. But when the immigra­tion law passed in Septem­ber, they left. Perhaps be­cause they had family members with them who were not legal.

There were several state officials on hand Tuesday to tell Green and others some of their labor options -- in­cluding state inmates on work release, Alabamians who advertise themselves on the state's job website and the federal guest worker program, H2A, which many employers complain is too expensive.
Two months ago, with state unemployment at near­ly 10 percent, the Alabama Department of Industrial Re­lations launched its "Work Alabama" initiative to match job seekers with available, short-term work.

Tuesday, Robert Brantley, an employment service di­rector, said the department has identified about 1,100 Alabamians willing to do the work.

"We got the reaction from the labor side," Brantley said.

Finding employers has been harder, he said. He didn't know exactly how many employers had con­tacted the department. He attributed a lack of initial in­terest to the time of year. Late fall is a slow time for agriculture; the spring should be more active, he said.

He also said that agricul­ture industries have not used Industrial Relations' services for decades and needs to be familiarized with them.

"We want to hear from you," he told the audience.

The Industrial Relations office may not have heard from the agriculture sector in recent years because, un­til now, they didn't need it. ..

"Farmers were accustomed to finding workers in every corner -- that is not the case anymore," said Rodolfo Alvarez, chief executive officer of Guest Worker Specialists. GWS, based in Arizona, helps U.S. companies get legal, temporary immigrant labor, often through the federal H2-A program.

The H2-A program has been criticized for its expense. Brantley said recent numbers show about 50 Alabama employers used it to bring about 500 workers to the state.

Alvarez said he recently helped a Birmingham farmer locate 50 temporary workers through H2-A. The housing expenses alone cost the farmer $118,000.

"So, I am thinking, how much am I going to be paying for tomatoes next year?" Alvarez said.

He suggested business owners form co-ops to share costs.

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