After plants close, displaced workers retrain, gain new skills or hone old ones.

By DON SHILLING
VINDICATOR BUSINESS EDITOR
IT SURE SEEMED LIKE DAN DIPIERO lost something big when he lost his job. His pay was gone. His expertise was no longer needed, and he'd never get the full union pension he'd expected.
Ten months later, however, DiPiero thinks he may have gained something even more valuable when Cold Metal Products closed its steel processing plant in Campbell, eliminating his job as a rolling-mill operator.
He now has the opportunity to make his passion -- computer networking -- his occupation. He's been in classes since October to earn a certification from Cisco, a computer networking company.
DiPiero has tinkered with computers for 20 years and became so well known in the plant that Cold Metal paid him to work on its computers after hours. He's excited that in a few months he'll have the formal training needed to start a new career.
"In the end, Cold Metal closing might be a blessing in disguise. That's what my wife says," said DiPiero, 45, of Boardman.
Like DiPiero, many area residents are struggling and searching for silver linings these days. They've had jobs stripped away by an international steel crisis, a struggling economy and a corporate drive to make plants more efficient.
The Mahoning Valley has lost 19,000 jobs since 1999. Many jobs were cut when employees left or retired, but other workers met a harsher fate.
The closing of Cold Metal eliminated 120 jobs. The shutdown of Warren steelmaker CSC Ltd. left 1,300 jobless. Phar-Mor's closing ended 200 corporate jobs and hundreds of others. The list goes on.
"This is a replay of the 1980s," said Bert Cene, program manager at The Transition Center, a retraining center in Struthers.
Cold, hard truth
Like the days of the steel mill closings, many jobs lost today aren't coming back. And the workers know it. To find work, they have to try something new.
So off to school they go. Some are studying to earn an associate or bachelor's degree. Others are upgrading computer skills or working on their Cisco certification. They are learning to be truck drivers, diesel mechanics, machinists and nurses.
The demand for retraining by dislocated workers has doubled in recent years, said Ray McAtee, director of the Mahoning & amp; Columbiana Training Association.
In fact, demand has risen so much that it exceeds funding that's available, said Thomas Mahoney, director of the Trumbull County Department of Job and Family Services.
His agency can help only one in 30 people interested in retraining. People who have lost jobs from plant closings immediately qualify ahead of others, but program funds don't stretch far enough to help everyone, Mahoney said.
Job training agencies can pay up to $8,500 a year for school and training fees and supplies through the federal Workforce Investment Act.
Training agencies try to reach people as early as they can, often at their office or plant just after they have learned their fate.
Shock is normal, especially among men who always have seen themselves as the breadwinner.
"I see a lot of depression," said Jim White, an instructor at the Mahoning & amp; Columbiana Training Agency. "They say, 'What will my kids think of me? What do my neighbors think of me?'"
Job counselors try to move these people to the point DiPiero has reached -- searching for the hidden blessing.
"They need to start looking at this as an opportunity, not a tragedy," Cene said.
It can take time because many of the dislocated manufacturing workers got their jobs right out of high school simply by showing up.
"Most of the people in our Valley have never competed for a job," Mahoney said.
Like a new world
White says the thought of looking for a job is frightening for many.
"They say, 'I've never filled out a job application in my life. Now I have to do a r & eacute;sum & eacute;? What's that?'" he said.
Training agencies walk them through the process. First, dislocated workers are tested on math and reading skills. Then they attend classes on goal setting, r & eacute;sum & eacute; preparation and interviewing techniques. Later they are referred to colleges or trade schools for retraining.
Job counselors also try to help people to think creatively. A person may have worked in the same factory for 20 years, but perhaps another line of work has been in the back of his mind. Others think they know only one job, such as operating a crane in a mill, but they like fixing cars and can be trained as a mechanic.
After the initial shock wears off, area residents are determined to succeed, job counselors say.
"Once they find a direction, don't stand in their way," White said. "These are seriously motivated people."
Still, there's only so much motivation can do when jobs just aren't there.
This is a difficult time to look for work because governments are feeling pinched and companies that have survived are cutting costs. Even companies that are doing well are worried about adding workers because of increasing health-care costs, Mahoney said.
His agency considers clients who reach 80 percent of their former pay to be successes.
White said many workers face other obstacles besides the down economy.
"Age discrimination. Sex discrimination. Race discrimination. Religious discrimination. It's all out there, and you can't change that. So you have to sell what you have," he said.
Part of marketing yourself is identifying your strengths and part is knowing the process, he said. He recalled one steel worker who initially dismissed his recommendation of sending a thank-you note after an interview.
"That's really sissy," the unemployed man told White.
But he changed his mind and tried it two weeks later. His new boss told him he was hired because he was the only one to send a thank-you note.
Many still looking
Many people, however, have retrained, prepared a r & eacute;sum & eacute; and planned a job search, but they haven't found an adequate job.
"We've got so many skilled people out of work," McAtee said. "That shouldn't be."
Some of these people have taken low-paying jobs they are overqualified for. Others make money with odd jobs or work two jobs, while many rely on their spouse's income.
"We have a lot of working poor," McAtee said.
Some people have given up looking for jobs here and moved away, say former workers at Cold Metal, Phar-Mor and other companies. Others are driving to the Cleveland or Pittsburgh areas.
DiPiero said he's willing to look in those areas after he gets his Cisco certification in August, but he's hopeful he'll find a local job. A developer of a technology park in Boardman has spoken to the Cisco class about potential jobs there.
For now, he's relying on a small pension from his years at Cold Metal and his wife's income. When Cold Metal closed, Laura DiPiero went from part time to full time at a local funeral home. The couple has three children.
The uncertainty of his future bothered DiPiero quite a bit at first. He hardly slept for weeks as he worried about what to do next and struggled with feelings that he should be doing something productive.
Now, he's satisfied to be in class and eagerly soaking up the proper way to hook up computers, instead of relying on his self-taught, trial-by-error skills.
"I'm confident now," he said. "I'm going to be OK."
shilling@vindy.com