North Las Vegas unemployed residents focus on recovery

North Las Vegas resident John Lopez thought about studying electronics but decided he could not compete with children growing up with programming skills, so he earned a degree in communications and journalism instead. He is a writer but said his fondness for mathematics taught him to be disciplined in his writing. Lopez, who has been under-employed for two months, said he is looking for clerical work because he has not found enough open positions in his field of public relations.

On Jan. 2 at the JobConnect office, 3405 S. Maryland Parkway, Lopez spotted something on the job posting board that sounded better than clerical work - a position teaching creative writing at a local school, his passion.

Lopez, a veteran, said his next stop is one of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs' offices for job placement assistance as he looks for a full-time job. He has part-time work but moved to Las Vegas from California only two months ago and is looking for something reliable. He said he was drawn to Las Vegas because of the housing market and recently bought a home that was previously listed for $200,000 for $80,000.

Alisha Callahan, another North Las Vegas resident, also was recently attracted to Las Vegas for its unique job market. The 31-year-old mother of a 6-year-old moved to the valley in June for its reputation as an up-and-coming technology hub. She was so frustrated with her own job search that she is trying to launch a website, jobbsters.com, with her sister to connect employers with job seekers by the end of February.

Keeping the secrets of the website under wraps until launch, Callahan said the primary ways it will be different from websites such as LinkedIn.com and www.craigslist.org are that it is not a social media site and the jobs are hand-approved to avoid scams. She plans to make the website secure so job seekers can apply for work without their current employer being aware that they are looking elsewhere.

Callahan was unemployed in Washington when she and her sister decided to launch the project. She hopes to turn the company into a full-time career because of her interest in human resources.

"I really have a genuine interest in helping people find a position," she said.

She said the website will not target a specific audience, though she is eager to help her friends and peers who graduated with student debt and the promise of a fulfilling job.

"You're going up against people with so much education and experience," she said. "You get all of these rejection letters, so you start internalizing that you can't find a job."

As Callahan continues her own job search, she said she has noticed her self- confidence take a hit.

"You can't pay bills, and bills accrue. You can joke about it, but you get super depressed," she said. "Am I hireable? You start wondering. We're working to help people not be stressed about it. It's a humbling experience, too. You realize so many people are more like you than you thought."

She has worked a range of jobs trying to get on her feet. She worked at a call center, as a dog sitter, a pizza delivery driver, an Internet technician and an administrative assistant. She said she believes her wide experiences will help her connect with more job seekers on her website.

The unemployment numbers are improving in North Las Vegas, said Terri Sheridan, North Las Vegas economic development coordinator. Preliminary numbers for October show unemployment at 13.1 percent compared with 10.9 percent for Nevada, but that is a decrease from 16 percent in October 2011, she said. While she cannot pinpoint what has caused the decrease, she said she the city has a plan to keep the momentum: attracting new businesses.

Sheridan said four new employers are building or renovating facilities in or near North Las Vegas. Chelten House Products Inc., a food manufacturing company, plans to build an 86,000-square-foot facility and employ 100 people; ViaWest is transforming a warehouse into a data center that will employ 13 people as well the other companies it hopes to attract; DaVita Dialysis Centers plans to transform a 9,700-square-foot vacant building downtown and employ 35 medical professionals; and Flexible Foam plans to expand from Ohio and employ 40 people in North Las Vegas at a 190,000-square-foot manufacturing facility.

She said she expects these four companies to bring 188 total jobs to North Las Vegas.

"We're all doing our part," she said.

She said she expects Chelten, ViaWest and DaVita to open in the first quarter of 2013 and Flexible Foam to open in the fourth.

"There are many folks out there that don't realize what we have here," Sheridan said. "They think of Las Vegas as a gambling and hospitality mecca. They don't realize we're more."

Contact Centennial and North Las Vegas View reporter Laura Phelps at lphelps@viewnews.com or 702-477-3839.