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Published on Sunday, November 18, 2007 Gazette Opinion: Meeting Billings' work force
challenge
With Montana's unemployment rate sinking below
2 percent - the lowest in the nation - and Yellowstone County's rate as
low as 1.5 percent, a work-force shortage is challenging employers
throughout the state, and especially in Billings.The labor crunch has arrived after 15 years of steady economic growth in Montana's largest city. Personal income, per capita income and jobs available have all increased in Yellowstone County. Economist Larry Swanson of the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West drew this picture of the local economy in his talk to 300 Billings business people and community leaders at a breakfast forum last week at Montana State University-Billings. Sponsored by Celebrate Billings partners (MSUB, Billings Clinic, St. Vincent Healthcare, the Foundation for Community Vitality and The Billings Gazette), the forum was organized to spur discussion and action on solutions to work-force issues. Jobs in cities Likewise, Montana's other biggest cities are engines of economic development. Between 2000 and July of this year, Gallatin County's work force expanded by 10,138 people, Yellowstone County's by 8,399, Flathead's by 6,743 and Missoula's by 6,172. Counties neighboring urban centers also saw strong job growth with Ravalli County expanding its work force by 2,385 during the seven-year period. People are going where the jobs are being created. Seventy percent of Montana's population lives within 40 miles of its seven largest urban areas. In the tight labor market, many workers are looking for better jobs. Nancy Boyer, who runs a job counseling business, told the breakfast audience that she's been busy despite the low jobless rate because people are wanting to change jobs. This situation creates opportunities for employers to move workers into more productive jobs. At a small group discussion after the breakfast forum, most participants chose "work force shortage" as their discussion topic over secondary education affordability, accessibility and generational differences. In fact, all those topics are integral to fostering the talented labor pool this community needs. Lifelong education Much of the solution to work force challenges involves education. Schooling starting in early childhood and continuing past high school is an essential investment in our community's future. Good workers want opportunities to continue their education at the college level and will need flexible schedules as well as online, evening and weekend class availability to fulfill their goals. Young families want excellent K-12 schools for their children. Employers want excellent schools to attract those working families and to ensure that future workers will be well-educated. "We need everyone to participate," Swanson said. "They need education and skills so they can participate." Swanson called for regional, not statewide, planning of economic development programs so that communities can determine what would work best for their particular resources and needs. The state's role should be to support and encourage local efforts. This work force challenge can be met, as Swanson said, "by a concerted, intelligent effort by Billings area leadership." We know what we've got to do; let's get going to invest strategically in people and education. Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises. Talk Back!Billingsgazette.com encourages readers to engage in civil conversation with their neighbors. Comments that are submitted go into a queue to be moderated and may take several hours to be reviewed. By submitting a comment, you are agreeing to the terms & conditions set out in our comment policy.If you have any problems with the new Talk Back! system, please email us. The comments below are from readers of
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