Displaced workers restart their lives

September 6, 2009 at 12:00a.m.

WILMINGTON, Ohio (AP) — Some have started businesses selling such things as used clothing or customized hunting knives. Others have gone back to school, studying to be medical assistants, furnace repairmen and X-ray machine technicians.

It’s been 15 months since air cargo shipper DHL Express announced it was pulling out of this southwest Ohio city, a move that resulted in the layoff of thousands of employees who had developed specialized skills and were in career comfort zones. The displaced workers have had to start new lives — in many cases dramatically different ones.

“Believe me, when you’re laid off, you just want to crawl in a hole and put your head under a pillow and lay there all day,” said Nancy Hertlein, 52, whose builder-husband has also been hurt by the slumping economy. “Shame on us for being so secure with everything that we didn’t have a backup plan. We never dreamed the rug would be pulled out from both of us.”

Hertlein and her husband have had to scramble. They started raising honeybees and harvesting berries, selling them and homemade pies at farmers markets. And they plan to begin taking orders to provide corn, tomatoes and other produce to individual customers.

So far, the Hertleins haven’t made any money on their new venture, but they view this as a testing-the-waters season.

Sandy Wogomon and her husband, Eric, dipped into their savings and took out a loan to open Next to New, a consignment shop that sells top-brand formal, business and casual clothing. He was laid off from his job at an auto supplier in January, and she lost her job from the DHL move in July.

Eric has put his technical and engineering skills on the shelf, but he still uses his sales savvy. His wife, who worked as a corporate purchaser, is using her skills to do the books.

“I’m a little worried,” he said. “The store is breaking even. But I have not drawn a salary. My wife is not drawing a salary.”

However, Wogomon said he gets a great deal of satisfaction out of his new line of work. He has helped outfit displaced workers for job interviews, and several girls were able to attend their high school proms because he sold them $200 dresses for $15.

When DHL announced in May 2008 it was leaving Wilmington, about 8,000 workers were employed at the sprawling air park, working for either DHL or for ABX Air and ASTAR, which sorted and delivered packages for DHL. Today, about 1,000 workers remain.

DHL parent Deutsche Post AG has said heavy losses and fierce competition are forcing it to significantly reduce its air and ground operations in the United States.

And the displaced Ohio workers have had to look for work in an area hammered by plant closings and layoffs in the auto industry. The unemployment rate in Wilmington’s Clinton County hit 14.6 percent in July, which dwarfs the national rate in August of 9.7 percent.

About 1,200 workers displaced from the air park have gotten funding for retraining from multiple sources, including a national emergency grant. They are attending five dozen schools and training centers, including Ohio State, the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, community colleges and technical schools.