The employment market in Crawfordsville, Indiana is not the kind that makes news. There’s no glitzy startup scene, no tech campus on the outskirts of town. Instead, it has a small office on Darlington Avenue where, since 1988, the task of matching people with paychecks has been quietly carried out.
Workforce owns that office. Additionally, a locally owned staffing company that has become somewhat of a mainstay for anyone in Montgomery County seeking light industrial work—factory shifts, warehouse jobs, the kinds of jobs that sustain a town’s economy without ever making it into a press release. Driving past it is simple. Finding someone in town who is unaware of it is more difficult.
The individuals in charge of the agency appear to care that it is not a part of a national chain. “Just us, not a franchise” is how they characterize themselves, and they take pride in it. A small staffing company must endure more than thirty years in business, particularly during recessions, pandemics, and the gradual decline of manufacturing jobs in the Midwest. They may have survived this long in part because they continue to be independent and do not report to any corporate parent.
You won’t find anything ostentatious when you enter the office. You’ll find a small staff that manages everything from wage negotiations for local employers to drug testing requirements, with a combined experience of over 90 years in the industry. It’s not a glamorous job. Paperwork, phone calls, candidate screening, and determining who fits where are all part of the process. However, it’s the kind of unglamorous work that keeps warehouses operating and factories staffed in a town without an excess of workers or jobs.
WorkOne, the state-run network of job centers run by Indiana’s Department of Workforce Development, is another, related theme that runs through Crawfordsville’s employment landscape. The closest full-service locations are in Kokomo and Lafayette, while smaller satellite offices are dispersed throughout Logansport and Peru. WorkOne West Central does not actually have a full-service office in Crawfordsville. The closest location is typically a short drive to Lafayette rather than a stroll downtown for locals in need of direct WorkOne services, such as training referrals, career counseling, and unemployment assistance.
People get confused by that distinction. The terms “Workforce Plus” and “WorkOne” are frequently confused in search results, so it’s important to be clear: Workforce Plus is the Crawfordsville-based private staffing company, whereas WorkOne is the local public employment service with distinct hours and locations. Because Workforce Plus is situated on Darlington Avenue, anyone looking for assistance in the area is more likely to stop by their door first.
Speaking with clients of the agency, it’s remarkable how intimate the reviews seem. Comments characterizing the employees as polite, professional, and “super sweet” are not typically associated with employment agencies, which are typically transactional at best. The staffing office seems to be doing more than just processing applications in a town this size. It involves interacting with neighbors, recurring clients, and individuals whose names the employees most likely remember.
It’s reasonable to wonder if that level of small-town familiarity works as a business model. Bigger staffing companies have national clientele, algorithmic matching, and data systems. Workforce Plus has three decades of relationships and local knowledge, but none of that. Although the future of light industrial hiring in areas like Crawfordsville is uncertain, it appears to be working for them thus far. Small Midwest towns have been more affected than most by the long-standing disparity in manufacturing employment across the country.
Nevertheless, there is a positive, almost antiquated aspect to the way this office runs. It serves as a reminder that not all job solutions must be platforms or apps. Sometimes all you need is a small office, a phone number, and people who have been in the business long enough to understand the local market better than any algorithm.
