I don't think the unemployment figures fully reflect the situation of seasonal employment in the retail field. Unemployment will be down now because of seasonal, holiday work that started in October and is just ending.

Those unemployment figures do not include over 300 jobs lost in our Workforce Area 25, which includes the counties of Jefferson, Franklin, Perry, Jackson and Williamson.

We consider the employers, as well as the job seekers, as our customers. We will help people acquire the skills they need for certain jobs. We don't want to send folks out for a job without the necessary skill set.

We are prime for growth. We are fortunate to have REDCO (Regional Economic Development Corporation) and area towns with leadership that is dedicated to bringing new business into the area and retaining existing businesses.

Obviously, there are always service jobs, however, those are not always self-sustaining wages. And, for our organization, our goal is to match job seekers with appropriate self-sustaining employment.

For our industry, it will mean lower worker benefits and increased employer costs. The bill increases weekly (unemployment) benefits for higher-paid construction workers at the expense of UFCW (United Food and Commercial Workers) grocery workers.