Tough talk from Kentucky's demographer Sunday, January 11, 2004 Kentucky's state demographer, Ron Crouch, doesn't mince words. While the South is poised to continue major job growth, troubling clouds are on the horizon. In particular, the aging of our population will pose some serious challenges for sustained growth. Read more. Some quotes: “Right now, what we’re seeing is a ‘middle-aging’ of the population, and the real aging of the population is still 10 years away. But you know what happens in 2010? All us Baby Boomers start turning 65, and all hell breaks loose.” “People are going to have to change their view of retirement. They’re going to have to start working until they reach older ages than the retirement age in the past.” Relatively low educational attainment is "going to be a serious problem over the next few years. The economy of the future is going to be based on smarter, better educated workers, and the ‘Bubbas’ of the world are going to be in serious trouble.” The problem is indeed serious. We are not producing enough young people interested in post-secondary education. At the same time, high school drop-out levels are too high, and we are producing too many high school graduates with weak skills and no career plans. Shortages are appearing in all sorts of skilled positions: nurses, pharmacists, long haul truck drivers, auto technicians. The list goes on. The shortages will only get worse in the years ahead. posted by Ed Morrison |		This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License. links Some Background on EDPro Weblog The purpose of this weblog is to help economic development professionals -- EDPros -- keep up with the changes sweeping our profession. Strap on your goggles. It's a whole new game. There are no experts any more. The only place to learn about economic development is from other EDPros who are doing it. One other point: the prevaling approach (paradigm, if you like) in economic development is shifting from competition to collaboration. There are a lot of reaasons underlying this shift, but here's the important insight: You, your community, and your region will do better by collaborating and sharing information. So, spread the word...Share the knowledge. Tell a friend about EDPro Weblog. If you are using a news reader, here is the link to syndicate this site: Here's the link if you are a bloglines subscriber: Speaking and workshops on Open Source Economic Development As the idea of Open Source Economic Development starts spreading, more people are asking about it. Visit the I-Open web site to learn more. My colleagues and I are happy to explain the basic concepts in a talk or a workshop. E-mail Susan Alshuler if you'd like to learn more about workshops and speaking. Background on Ed Morrison Download some background information on me here.

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