The chief executive of a Daviess County company says President Trump’s immigration plan could be beneficial for the American workforce. Trump’s proposal would change America’s system from prioritizing family connections to favoring English language and job skills.
Sun Windows President Frank Anderson says his Owensboro company wants the most qualified applicant to meet the job description, and if that’s a legal immigrant, that’s fine. He says there are enough Americans who are able to fill the open positions, but some who are on welfare are not motivated to work.
“I think what Trump is trying to do is to try to take these people off the welfare rolls and try to put them to work, and then certainly fill the need of the immigrant workers. There’s no question there’s a need for them, and just try to vet them through.”
Anderson says about five percent of his 130 employees are legal immigrants, mostly Hispanic. Sun Windows does not require English language skills, but once someone is hired, the company encourages ESL programs.
“We taught ESL here for years and when we taught it here it was outstanding because these guys actually knew more than our American employees because they would come in and take these classes and learn how to read a tape measure, learn the anatomy of a window and all the parts and components,” said Anderson.
He says funding ended for the English as a Second Language program at his company, but most of his employees who need to improve their language skills take classes at Owensboro Community and Technical College and the results are excellent.
