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Nick Sabino’s testimony before the House Small Business Committee on Wednesday was blunt.

“The biggest obstacle to growth is the inability to find qualified applicants,” Sabino said.

He’s the president and founder of Deer Park Roofing, Inc. in Cincinnati and said he still needs 10 to 15 more employees, despite intense recruiting efforts.

 “We are being forced to turn down work, which is causing slowdowns in both residential and commercial construction,” Sabino said.

Whether it’s jobs on the farm or in downtown, a growing shortage of skilled workers is taking a toll in Ohio, where the unemployment rate is at 4.3 percent.

“It’s probably the biggest concern that I hear from our small businesses back in the greater Cincinnati area, and really from all over Ohio — workforce,” said Representative Steve Chabot (R-01). “Not finding enough people to fill the jobs that they have. It’s a big problem.”

Chabot is ranking member of the House Small Business Committee. He’s introduced legislation throughout the last few years to reform the visa systems that legally bring in migrant workers on a temporary basis to fill some of the jobs.

“These are programs that work, but they need to be improved too,” Chabot said.

Rep. Troy Balderson (R-12) agreed. He told Spectrum Washington reporter Taylor Popielarz it’s not just Ohio farms that are caught up in the slow-moving visa program.

“Even in the skilled workforce, I run into constituents right now that are dealing with the same issues,” Balderson said. “They have somebody that they can bring over here, but it takes so long and the process is so in-depth to get them here.”

Another challenge is keeping American workers on the job — and attracting new ones.

Sabino said Deer Park has created a development program to provide more stable career paths and he’s working with technical schools in the area to recruit. But the low unemployment rate and a workforce that is getting older, but working more hours than ever before, means he needs help from immigrants.

“The immigrant compliments these American workers and these guys would like to spend time with their family,” Sabino said. “They don’t want to work 60+ hours a week.”

Balderson said he hasn’t figured out a specific legislative fix to this problem yet, but he’s looking for feedback from small business owners throughout Ohio to find out what is needed.