Guest Column by Ryan Nolander

In the Tribune’s recent Business & Industry Impact 2015, I wrote briefly about the workforce issue and a newly formed group called SE MN Together.  The labor shortage is a huge issue throughout the state and is even more challenging for small/rural communities.  There are shortages in both skilled and unskilled labor. SE MN Together is working with city administrators, employment agencies, educators and businesses to discuss ways to work together regionally to attract and retain workforce.

SE MN Together looks to seek out and coordinate workforce solutions that address the labor shortage within the entire southeastern Minnesota region by: 1) Creating opportunities for smaller communities to work together to identify, utilize and develop their own and regional assets to grow workforce capacity and; 2) Develop the basis for the smaller communities in our region to work in partnership with local businesses, and workforce development agencies to develop, stabilize and grow the regional workforce.

SE MN Together is a complementary project to ensure the entire southeast region, especially the smaller communities, are aware of the workforce issues, are prepared for and willing to work together to address these workforce issues, and to develop the basis for working together on other related issues such as housing and transit.

Three community conversations are scheduled to empower businesses, civic leaders, workforce development and other community organizations to: 1) Take the leadership on labor force issues for their own community; 2) Enter into partnerships/collaborations within the region and 3) Leverage the impacts of the Destination Medical Center project as an opportunity. The first conversation will take place in Albert Lea from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 29 and will include representation from Freeborn, Mower, and other surrounding counties. The keynote speaker will be Steve Hine, director of the Labor Market Information Office of DEED, and special guest will be Katie Clark Sieben, DEED commissioner.

Round table discussions will take place after the speaker and will be focused on:

1) What concerns you about workforce recruitment and retention in your community or industry?

2) What actions or strategies could improve our ability to recruit and retain the workforce we need? What is currently working or shows promise?  What will bring new people to our communities to live and work?

3) What can we do together (regionally) to attract new people to our communities and retain our current workforce?

The ultimate goal is to learn from these conversations how to develop a regional framework for continued collaboration and to get answers as to how smaller communities’ workforce needs to become a part of regional strategies. A summary of all three community conversations will be created and these findings will be used to inform other stakeholders and leverage resources to continue to address regional efforts and other topics to be addressed in the future.

If you or your employer would like to participate in the Oct. 29 community conversation in Albert Lea, please click on the “Register Now” button at: www.semntogether.wix.com/home. There is no charge for the event but you must pre-register.

Until next month, remember that we are all in this together.

 

Ryan Nolander is the executive director of the Albert Lea Economic Development Agency.