New study details regional worker education, training needs in Iowa

Financial services, biotech and food services are among a group of occupations that are growing in their importance to the Corridor.

Those occupations and others are included in a study released Friday by Kirkwood Community College and Corridor economic development organizations that details which skills and work force training are needed by companies in the region.

"Clusters Employment and Staffing Pattern Summary" was conducted collaboratively by Kirkwood, the Cedar Rapids Metro Economic Alliance, Iowa City Area Development Group and local economic development organizations. It examined 13 industry clusters with comparable work force characteristics and requirements.

Information from the study will be combined with data from upcoming community and employer focus groups to develop work force solutions for the region. The study describes the staffing patterns and skill capabilities necessary to support interstate commerce companies showing strong growth.

"This study is another tool we will use to develop programs and services to help existing and prospective businesses who are looking to hire skilled workers, " said Dee Baird, president and CEO of the Economic Alliance.

Mark Nolte, president and CEO of the Iowa City Area Development Group, said one of the key needs identified by the study will be targeted training.

"Through these preliminary findings, we know the most common skills and knowledge required across multiple (industry) clusters," Nolte said. "Moving forward, we will need to speak with employers and other stakeholders to better implement the data."

Five of the 13 industry clusters are considered "foundational" to the region. Durable goods, educational testing and support services, electronics engineering and manufacturing, non-durable goods and production advanced manufacturing employ a large percentage of the region's work force, and their compounded annual growth rates are relatively stable.

Five additional industry clusters are growing or emerging as characterized by stronger compounded annual growth rates. Those categories are financial services and customer services, food and food ingredients, industrial biotechnology, medical devices and services, and software and IT development/computer modeling and simulation.

The study determined a significant skills gap exists in the software and IT development cluster between the average worker and the needs for entry-level positions.

The financial and customer services cluster was the second-highest paying cluster and has a very gradual increase from the lowest-paying jobs to the highest.

Across the 13 industry clusters, the most common occupations are production occupations with 22 percent of the total jobs in 2012. Another 18.6 percent were in office and administrative support occupations and 11.4 percent were in computer and mathematical occupations.

Industry groups where the capability of the region's work force is falling short of the required level of skill are production advanced manufacturing, medical devices and services, software and IT development/computer modeling and simulation, financial services and customer services, and industrial biotechnology.