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FC Cincinnati Partners With CityLink To Find Construction Workers

Bill Rinehart
/
WVXU
Representatives of CityLink, FC Cincinnati, and contractors announce the First Source program.

At the pinnacle of construction, as many as 300 people will be working on FC Cincinnati's new stadium in the West End. The team, contractors, and CityLink are cooperating to make sure some of those people will be from the neighborhood.

Liza Smitherman with Jostin Construction is excited for the new collaboration. "We want people to come, utilitze CityLink and the First Source hiring program, because we, as contractors, are looking for good people," she says.

Smitherman says it's an important tool for contractors.

"They're all being strongly encouraged to utililize this resource. It's hard when you're a contractor, if you don't know how to get these folks, we now have First Source."

The social service center will screen and match applicants with jobs.

Smitherman of Jostin Construction says locally and nationwide, there's a shortage of skilled tradespeople. She says that shouldn't be a problem for the stadium project.

"Depending on what path an individual wants to take, they can enter a true registered apprenticeship program, through a merit shop or union contractor or contractors like Jostin, we have our own on-the-job training programs within our organization.

Smitherman says the hope is a majority of the workers on the stadium project will be hired through CityLink.

The team plans to open the stadium in March 2021.

Bill Rinehart started his radio career as a disc jockey in 1990. In 1994, he made the jump into journalism and has been reporting and delivering news on the radio ever since.