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• Jobs west OK, Jobs east better
• 51 lose jobs as UFE in River Falls announces close
• River Falls City Council approves $4.5 million bid for new city hall

Head west on Interstate 94 looking for a job over the summer and your job prospects will be OK.

Head east looking for a job and the prospects improve dramatically.

The Milwaukee-based international recruiting firm, Manpower Inc., recently released their job outlook survey for the summer and found that employers in the Twin Cities expect to hire at a moderate pace over the summer months.

"Employer sentiment about hiring appears to be more encouraging than in the second quarter of 2008, when 36 percent of companies interviewed intended to add employees, and 36 percent planned to reduce staff levels," said Michele Lindberg, a spokesman for Manpower's Twin Cities' office.

According to Manpower, from June to September, 37 percent of the companies interviewed planned to hire, while 29 percent expect to reduce staff.

Another 29 percent expect to maintain current staffing levels while the remaining 5 percent aren't sure.

"Hiring activity is expected to be much lighter than one year ago when 44 percent of companies surveyed planned to increase staff levels and 11 percent expected to cut payrolls," Lindberg said.

Meanwhile in the Chippewa Valley region -- which includes Eau Claire, Menomonie and Chippewa Falls -- Manpower says employers expect to hire at a healthy pace.

According to the Manpower survey, 37 percent of employers there expect to hire on staff during the summer, while 50 percent expect to maintain current staffing levels.

Only 13 percent of the employers surveyed by Manpower expect to cut staff.

Despite what Manpower calls a strong job market for the Chippewa Valley, hiring is expected to be lower than last year.

"Employer sentiment about hiring appears to be less encouraging than in the second quarter of 2008, when 46 percent of companies interviewed intended to add employees, and 12 percent planned to reduce staff levels," said Donna Christianson, spokesperson for Manpower's Eau Claire office.

In the Chippewa Valley, Manpower reports that job prospects are best in the transportation/public utilities sector along with the wholesale/retail trade and finance/insurance/real estate sectors.

Employers in the construction and education sectors plan to cut staffs.

According to Manpower, hiring in durable and non-durable goods manufacturing and public administration is expected to remain the same.

In the Twin Cities, job prospects look best in the wholesale/retail trade and education sectors.

However, employers in the non-durable goods manufacturing plan staff cutbacks.

The Chippewa Valley and Wausau areas had the best job outlooks in Wisconsin, according to the survey.

In Minnesota, the Faribault/Northfield/Owatonna/Waseca region had the best job outlook with 52 percent of employers looking to hire in the coming months.

Statewide, 25 percent of Wisconsin employers plan to hire over the summer, while in Minnesota 29 percent do.

Nationally, 26 percent of employers expect to add staff.

By Phil Pfuehler, RiverTown Staff

Fifty-one employees at UFE Inc., 265 Mound View Road in the city's industrial park, got layoff notices Tuesday.

In the letter, General Manager Dennis Schendel said the custom-injection plastics molder in River Falls will be phased out by Oct. 10. Schendel said work will be transferred to other UFE plants.

The letter called this a "workforce reduction program" tied to the "permanent closure of (the) River Falls plant."

Based in Stillwater, Minn., UFE sells to the appliance, automotive, medical, office equipment, electronics and telecommunications industries.

It has over 400 employees in plants in River Falls and Dresser; Stillwater; El Paso, Texas; Monterrey, Mexico; and Singapore. Earlier this spring UFE was bought by Los Angeles-based Catalina Precision Products, Inc.

Besides the River Falls plant, UFE will also close and lay off a smaller number of employees at a molding facility in Stillwater.

According to Schendel, a River Falls resident and UFE employee for 27 years, the company has been at the same spot in River Falls for over 40 years. It was first known as Kroy Industries, with UFE (United Fabricators of Electronics) as a division.

At its peak in 2000, Schendel said River Falls UFE employed 165. He said work's been slowing down for two years. The automotive slump has hurt production at the River Falls plant.

River Falls UFE employees will work another 60 days, as required by state law after a closing announcement, before being laid off gradually as the plant "tapers off."

UFE is the third big plant closing in four years in River Falls. Smead's, an office supply producer, and Kolpak, a manufacturer of walk-in refrigerators, both closed. Hundreds lost their jobs.

By Phil Pfuehler, RiverTown staff

With one dissenting vote, the City Council Tuesday night approved a bid of nearly $4.5 million to start building a City Hall.

The contractor is Greystone Construction from Shakopee, Minn.

Demolition of the Ingram Center and two houses on city-owned land at West Maple and Lewis streets begins soon. The aim is to have the new 27,000-square-foot City Hall, 222 Lewis St., open by next summer.

Also Tuesday night, council members accepted a low bid of $629,222 from Keller Construction in Hudson to renovate the current Elm Street City Hall. Renovation will provide much-needed space for police and fire departments to expand.

The city will borrow up to $5 million at a 3.65% interest rate in a joint loan from River Falls State Bank and First National Bank-River Falls to pay for the new City Hall.

Money to renovate the Elm Street City Hall will come from reserve funds. Ten bids were received for both projects. Low bidders were chosen.

Finance Director Julie Bergstrom said bidding was higher than expected for the new City Hall but lower than expected for the Elm Street renovation.

Council Member Tom Caflisch, the lone no vote, claimed to represent the "majority of city residents." When Mayor Don Richards challenged that claim, Caflisch admitted it was a guess but was undeterred.

Before the council meeting he labeled the new City Hall project a "fiasco." He described the blueprint as "gaudy, overbuilt, non-normal for River Falls, and too expensive."

Caflisch said a new City Hall is justified but shouldn't cost more than $3 million, tops.

He blamed city staffers for ignoring less costly options, including fixing up the Hwy. 35 old AgStar building, because "it wasn't good enough for (them)."

Caflisch blasted the makeup of a City Hall exploratory committee for relying on non-city residents. He said that made a mockery of the city's slogan of an "inclusive community."

Citizens, as they've been doing for months, spoke against the new City Hall. Marilyn Bostrack of West Park Street, citing foreclosures, rising gas prices and hard times, opposed the $5 million price tag.

Get more on this story in this week's print edition of the River Falls Journal.