On Tuesday, the state of Montana ended its participation in the federal unemployment program.
Governor Greg Gianforte said he wants the Treasure State to be open for business because he has heard from too many employers that can’t find help. Yesterday the state of South Carolina followed suit.
Gianforte came up with his own plan that gave unemployed workers a bonus to return to work instead of the $300 extra federal bonus to stay home.
Here in Union County, the same problem exists-especially in the restaurant business. There are many local eateries like White Castle, Applebees, Ville Grille and Fifth Street Cafe that have closed their dining rooms for lack of help. This has resulted in the establishments having to resort to drive thru only, just accepting online orders or closing all together. Panera Bread, that just opened, is another restaurant that has had to limit their hours only opening the dining room in the evenings.
We know finding qualified help has always been tricky in a rural area and the pandemic hasn’t helped. We also don’t see this problem going away anytime soon as new developments continue to move in this direction.
Thus we think Ohio should follow Montana’s lead to help create another pool of applicants to fill the open positions local businesses desperately need.