“Although this is our second location, we have always been in the Hamilton-Fairfield area,” said Joe Puthoff, the company’s president. “We’re looking to add six to 10 jobs immediately, primarily on the manufacturing side, but also looking to add within the office.”
All jobs are full time and offer “a competitive wage with benefits,” he said.
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We asked Puthoff about the company’s hiring efforts, its challenges and visions for future growth. Here’s what he had to say:
Q: What are the biggest challenges your company and others in the industry are facing?
A: “The number one challenge is finding people. For at least two years now it has been very difficult to find people and it doesn’t appear it will change anytime soon. We are among many companies not only locally, but nationally, that are in the same position.”
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Q: How is Plas-Tanks Industries uniquely positioned to address those challenges?
A: “We are evaluating our offering to make sure we are competitive and looking for ways to set us apart. We believe in offering a job that can become a long term career for an individual. There are many companies who find ways to increase pay by eliminating other benefits. We feel those benefits are important. We offer major medical, 401K with company match, life insurance, disability insurance, attendance incentives, and paid time off .
“We’re also partnering with local organizations and schools like Ohio Means Jobs, Workforce Investment Board, Butler Tech, and the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, to name a few, to make our company more visible and to express our need for employees. There is also a bus stop at the end of our street on the Butler County Regional Transit Authority Job Connector Route #6.
“We recently participated in a round-table discussion with Congressman Warren Davidson and other manufacturing companies to discuss the challenges that local business is facing.”
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Q: What’s your staffing level now and why are current hiring efforts crucial for the company’s present and near future?
A: “Currently, we have around 40 employees. Hiring efforts are crucial for the company’s current business and future growth. We have a good amount of business on the books that our customers want right away, and we have had to turn down some business simply because we do not have the workforce to produce it. That is a very difficult thing to do. The demand for the products in our industry is projected to grow in the very near future, which increases the urgency to hire more workers.”
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Q: What’s the most prevalent obstacle the company encounters when it comes to hiring and what can jobseekers do to remedy that situation?
A: “Not to sound too simplistic, but it is finding people that will come to work. There are some skill sets that it helps to have, but we are willing to train from the ground up. Jobseekers just need to show up each and every day.”
Q: What’s your vision for the company’s growth in the next five to 10 years?
A: “We would like to increase the output by at least 50 to 70 percent. There is an immediate demand for growth, and it is projected to continue.”
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