Michigan Electrician Moves to Wyoming for Work

Michigan job fairs yield more workers for Wyoming
JENNIFER BYRD (online@rgj.com)
from the Reno Gazette-Journal

ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 30, 2006

GILLETTE, Wyo. -- In his home state of Michigan, Chris Purtell spent a month on unemployment while searching for a job. The 23-year-old electrician couldn't find a job that would pay a decent wage near his hometown of Pinconning, Mich., about an hour north of Flint.

That's when a couple of friends told him about a job fair in Flint where recruiters from Wyoming were looking to fill jobs created by that state's booming coal, oil and natural gas economy.

"There are no decent jobs left in Michigan, as far as I'm concerned," Purtell said. "For me, it was just a matter of getting out of Michigan and finding a better job."

And the prospect of making $22 an hour to start in a place with no state income tax played a big role in his decision to move, Purtell said.

Dozens of Michigan workers have moved to Wyoming to take advantage of the state's booming energy economy. Now, economic development officials from the counties that are the hubs of the current energy development are on their way back to Michigan for another recruiting trip -- Monday in Saginaw, Tuesday in Grand Rapids and Wednesday in Kalamazoo.

About 1,200 people attended job fairs held in late January in Flint, Lansing and Jackson, Mich., said Ruth Benson, marketing director for the Campbell County Economic Development Corp., in northeastern Wyoming, where coal mines and coal-bed methane development are driving the local boom.

Wyoming economic development offices are paying to host the job fairs in Michigan and only Wyoming companies and agencies are participating, Benson said.

In addition, Elaine Roth, regional manager of northeast Wyoming Department of Workforce Services, said about 770 people from Michigan registered as job seekers at the department's Web site between Jan. 30 and March 30. Once registered, those people get e-mails about job openings and information about Wyoming.

Michigan has one of the nation's highest unemployment rates and has lost about 180,000 manufacturing jobs since 2000. The U.S. auto industry is in the midst of a restructuring that is expected to ripple through the state's economy for years.

"It's unfortunate what's happening in Michigan right now, but we've got the jobs and they don't," Benson said.

Brenda Abbey, a job training specialist for South Central Michigan Works in Jackson, said she doesn't like to see people leave Michigan, but understands.

"You know, we want to see our people survive," Abbey said. "People have to do what they have to do."

Survival is why Kevin Wiechert, 42, moved from Michigan to Wyoming less than a month ago. He was working for a landscaper in Lyndon, west of Detroit, when the economy turned sour. He couldn't find enough work to support his wife and two kids.

"Michigan is flooded with people looking for work right now," Wiechert said. "I'm just trying to make a living. You've got to survive."

Now, Wiechert works in construction for DRM Inc., a Gillette-area contractor.

"We definitely need the help," said Mark McKillop, part owner of DRM, adding that he has about 15 openings for experienced equipment operators.

"Everybody's looking for truck drivers and laborers -- we can't even find laborers."

DRM also hired Mike Neph, 24, who packed his truck and moved to Wyoming right after talking to officials at the Flint job fair in January -- arriving in Gillette even before the recruiters got back.

Neph had been working as a cash-crop farmer in Holly, Mich., and was having a hard time making a living. Now, he's laying pipe and doing other odd jobs for DRM as that company tries to keep up with booming demand for new construction.

Wyoming targeted Michigan, Roth said, because of Michigan's high unemployment rate and because of the skills among the unemployed there. Wyoming companies need people with a manufacturing or skilled labor background, Roth said, including heavy equipment operators, mechanics, truck drivers, electricians and welders.

In addition, both states are in the northern part of the country so people who move to Wyoming from Michigan understand the meaning of winter.

"We thought it was a good fit," Roth said.

And it's not just blue-collar workers who are making the jump.

Roy Lowell, assistant dean of career and technical programs at the Gillette campus of Sheridan College, is a recent Michigan transplant who loves his new home in Wyoming.

"Those of us in the Midwest, we have always loved the West," Lowell said. "This is the dream of every Midwestern farm boy."

Lowell was coordinator of manufacturing technology at Baker College in Flint when he saw an announcement for the job fair.

After talking to Wyoming economic development officials, Lowell said he felt there was a greater need for his skills in Gillette than in Michigan.

"The movement here is just phenomenal," Lowell said, adding that Gillette campus is planning to expand and launch new technical and work force improvement programs in the near future to help fill the demand for skilled workers.

Lowell said some of his former students in Michigan are considering a move to Wyoming because of more job opportunities. And the more who move out, the luckier Wyoming will be, Lowell said.

"One of the things you will find when dealing with the Michigan workforce is that they are a very well trained and very well disciplined group of workers," Lowell said.

"If you get two foot of snow, these guys will come to work and won't even be five minutes late. They're a very dedicated work force."

Russ Eason said he moved from Concord, Mich., to Gillette because he wanted a new adventure. He had worked in manufacturing management -- mainly in the automotive industry -- in Michigan for more than 20 years and wanted to try something new.

Eason said his new employer, P&H MinePro Services in Gillette, was looking for people with backgrounds in industries other than mining. Eason said his job will be to help the company formalize its quality control program.

"The processes are not that different," Eason said. "I like it here a lot. It's beautiful country."

But as more people move to Gillette, the area is facing housing crunch. Purtell has been living in a hotel, but recently bought a place outside the city. Wiechert and Neph are still looking for houses. Lowell is in temporary housing, but is planning to have a house built. Eason just found an apartment.

"Housing is our No. 1 obstacle," said Gillette City Administrator Bret Jones.

But the increased economic activity has led to higher wages and real estate values, Jones said, and the problems associated with increased population are "good problems to have," he said.

And Purtell said the housing problems are a small price to pay.

"Wyoming is definitely a beautiful place," he said. "With the economy not doing so hot in Michigan right now, coming out here was a golden opportunity."