Area-wide Workforce Campaign nears end

CEDAR RAPIDS - Officials with the Cedar Rapids Economic Alliance say they have seen positive results from efforts to improve the state of the area's workforce.

The goal of the alliance's two-year Workforce Campaign is to recruit and retain employees in the Corridor, especially those just out of college or with about five years of professional experience. The campaign launched in February 2014 as many of the Economic Alliance's member businesses struggled to find enough employees.

'The number one barrier to growth was workforce availability. The workforce was extremely productive, stable and qualified, but it was more the factor of there's just not enough bodies here,” said Allison Antes, workforce strategist at the Economic Alliance.

To increase the number of employees in the area, a variety of initiatives were launched, including a job portal called CRICJobRush.com, the Stay Here program - network building for regional college students - and an effort to help recruiters and potential employees learn about the quality of life in the Corridor.

The campaign has notched success in a few areas, such as the job portal website and the tools made available for businesses and recruiters, Antes said.

The number of applications on the job portal website - which allows employers to post job openings and helps applicants learn about the area - has almost doubled, from 4,000 in its first year to 7,500 in its second year, including many applications from outside the state.

Antes said member businesses also have seen an increase in applications.

Antes said the Economic Alliance developed a digital magazine as a tool for employers to use instead of relocation packets. She said recruiters and employers can send the link to candidates immediately to make the information convenient and get the candidates excited about the area.

The Economic Alliance has tried to take a more 'well-rounded” approach to recruiting employees with this campaign rather than just focusing on the jobs and companies themselves. Antes said the community side - such as the quality of life and things to do outside of work in the area - is important to potential employees, especially millennials, and a subject that the Workforce Campaign has tried to educate applicants and recruiters about.

'It was more of just telling the Cedar Rapids story and sharing those amenities that we maybe necessarily haven't always been the best about sharing in the past,” Antes said.