Iowa Ideas: IEDA director says state’s future rests on recruiting workers

CEDAR RAPIDS — The state's future relies on its ability to attract and maintain workers, Iowa Economic Development Authority director Debi Durham said Thursday, during the opening day of the Iowa Ideas conference.

Durham, speaking during a panel discussion on the Future Ready Iowa initiative with Iowa Department of Education Director Ryan Wise and Iowa Workforce Development Director Beth Townsend, made the comments when asked what would happen if the state couldn't reach its workforce development goals.

'I think what's at stake is our future, to be quite honest,' she said. ' ... When I started in this business, it was all about, location, location, location, and so now everything is turned upside down. Site selectors are saying that they start with labor.'

Future Ready Iowa is the state's skilled workforce development initiative, formed to recruit students and adults into training programs for high-demand jobs. Its goal is for 70 percent of workers in the state to have some level of education or job training beyond high school by 2025.

Durham said almost a third of Iowa's population is nearing retirement age, and they're leaving 'middle-skill' jobs, particularly in the manufacturing sector, where more training is required than in the past.

The panelists also discussed how to tap into underemployed groups for labor, particularly ex-offenders after leaving prison.

Townsend said the state has more low-skill workers than it does available low-skill jobs, and more middle-skill job openings than it does middle-skill employees. She said prison inmates could use their sentences to complete training for a middle-skill industry job, lowering the chance of recidivism.

Low unemployment trends at the state and national levels are forcing hiring managers to loosen restrictions on hiring people with criminal histories, particularly nonviolent drug offenders, Townsend said.

'With low unemployment, it's been much easier to have these conversations with employers and get them to open up and consider hiring ex-offenders,' she said.

The Iowa Workforce Development board will likely vote at its November meeting on recommending businesses remove sections in their job applications asking about prior criminal history.

When asked if he thinks rhetoric surrounding the cost of higher education is scaring away students, Wise said one of the department's jobs is to inform students about what options they have after high school, including two-year degrees or apprenticeships, and to encourage students to do in-school work training programs before they graduate.

However, Durham said the discussion about the rising cost of college isn't necessarily a bad thing.

'I think maybe for the first time, we're all seeing the light that not everyone needs to be in a four-year degree program,' she said, arguing that the state should focus on recruiting students that drop out of four-year college programs into apprenticeships and specialized training. ' ... I'm encouraged by that, that maybe we're finally moving the dialogue that it's not, and shouldn't be, an automatic four-year degree program.'

The Gazette's Iowa Ideas conference, in its second year, consists of in-depth, solutions-focused journalism and events. The conference continues Friday at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cedar Rapids Convention Complex.

l Comments: (319) 398-8366; dan.mika@thegazette.com