Manpower Beats Back Repression

Remember when there was a cell phone store nestled between Starbucks and Three Brothers Italian restaurant? Probably not because its been replaced by Manpower. I've biked past it many times on my way to Supreme Sports Club in Owen Brown. For a while, I've wondered what its about. Today, notepad in hand, I walked in and found out.

Upon entering I was greeted by staffing specialist Patricia Izydore. The inside of the store vaguely resembles the eclectic look and layout of a cell phone store. A few pseudo offices and coffee tables line the floor to ceiling windows. Ironically, the three employees manning manpower today, weren't men.

Branch manager Debra Provencher says Manpower is a job placement business based out of Milwaukee and a fortune 150 company with 4,400 offices nationwide. Izydore says Manpower has been in Columbia for 30 years and was previously located in Symphony Woods next to Toby's Dinner Theater. The company, which worked out of the 6th floor of an office building in Town Center, moved to its present location because of increased visibility and traffic.

Manpower, Izydore says, works to pair clients with associates. Most often walk-ins are placed in temporary jobs primarily in administration and warehouse work as well as professional and technical positions. The retention rate by client companies hovers around 40 percent.

Anyone interested in job placement at Manpower needs to bring two valid forms of I.D. and complete work history for the previous 10 years. For more information, call (410) 290-5176.

What does repression have to do with Manpower? I remember hearing economists debate the semantics of our financial situation . . . the worst since the great depression or a pseudonym recession setting us up for the fall to follow.

Last Friday I sat at my desk, streaming On Point. My cuticles twitched in sync with my corneas. My attention wavered on the line between listening to Tom Ashbrook & rewriting page 33 of Fear & Loathing: On The Campaign Trail '72. Solecism aside I thought repression seemed both logical and lexical.

It's fair to say Columbia feels the squeeze of Adam Smith's invisible fingers. Businesses press & fold like bills with pale faces, buried under Big cardboard Boxes. If you look hard enough you can find the silver edge in the empty windows. At a time when people seek and jobs hide, Manpower

"Insulated but not immune"

I rode past General Growth Properties today on my way to Columbia Archives. I looked at the barren trees and vines clinging to life and thought of the company. Today the company's stock closed at a measly 38 cents. Two years ago, the stock hovered close to 60 dollars a share. Assuming the company doesn't go bankrupt, now would be a good time to purchase controlling interest in the company and a seat on the board . . . if anyone living in Columbia actually had that much to piss away.

An article in the Columbia Flier, written by Derek Simmonsen caught my attention. Norman Rule, 47 year old business analyst and Columbia resident has found himself out of a job, even in a county as prosperous as Howard. In his article, Simmonsen wrote a detailed list of sinking ships with red flags.

Filene's Basement, EXPO Design Center and U.S. Foodservice are all digging graves beside Orinocco Coffee and Champion Billiards. Techlab has faded from view, along with Rocky Run and Atlanta Bread Company. Even the Dobbin Blockbuster is feeling the squeeze, with its floor space cut in half.

[Howard County's unemployment remains the lowest in the states, but the number of jobless people is the highest it's been in sex years, with 1,800 jobs were lost in 2008. And some economists predict thousands morejobs could disappear in the next two years. "Were insulated but not immune," said Dick Story, executive director of the Howard County Economic Development Authority. "We often tend to me the last in, the first out. ... But you can be sure that we're fully participating in the recession.] - Signs of the Economy, Columbia Flier

People will always go to the movies or buy a Subway sandwich, just without the $7.50 large popcorn or the additional potato chips or cookies. In spite of dismal times, a window sign caught my eye as I pedaled towards the Supreme Sports Club. The sign read Manpower. A small glimmer of hope for employment in these troubled times.