Monday, October 01, 2007
According to business and workforce development professionals in Iowa, the state will have about 100,000 job vacancies within the next five years. Read more.
The article makes it important point. Not all of the solutions to the pending worker shortages -- of not only in Iowa, but elsewhere -- will require outlays of money. Some solutions require better alignment, collaboration and communication.
For example, students generally receive relatively poor information regarding technical careers in high school. In many situations, each high school counselor will have a caseload of between 200 and 300 students. Understandably, most counselors focus on those students interested in attending four years of college.
Relatively little attention is paid to students, who could pursue a postsecondary training in a field that requires less than four years of college.
Here's another article, in which lawmakers get a warning to move on the issue. Read more.
posted by Ed Morrison |
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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.
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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.
Iowa sees a worker shortage
