Tim Ehlerding had a challenge to the people who attended the Wells County Chamber of Commerce’s quarterly luncheon Thursday. It was a simple challenge: Find someone who wants to earn more money.
Ehlerding, Wells County’s director of economic development, wanted each of the 120 or so in attendance on Thursday to find one person willing to be trained in specialized tasks. He figured each of those individuals would earn at least $5 an hour above their current salaries.
If that was the case, he said, those 120 people would add $1.2 million to Wells County’s income level.
“Each one of you can identify someone in Wells County in need of skills enhancement,” he said.
He backed off on his math later in his presentation, accounting for some of the better-trained individuals moving away, and also figuring income taxes would claim some of the extra income. He settled on a figure of $643,2000 in new spending in Wells County.
What kind of jobs? A certified nursing assistant. An entry welder — a skill sorely needed by manufacturers in this area. A truck driver. A pharmacy technician.
And training is available, often free of charge, from WorkOne WorkIN program.
He put out some intriguing numbers. Citing a book, “Hollowing out the Middle,” by Patrick J. Carr and Maria J. Kefalas, he said there were four types of people:
• Thinkers, who will go to college for four years and will most likely move away. That group is 25 to 35 percent of a given population.
• Makers, who may get some post-secondary education and are likely to stay within 50 miles of home. That group is 40 to 50 percent of a population.
• Seekers, who are looking for something outside of home yet may come back. That group is 5 to 10 percent of a population.
• Returners, who earned a degree, saw the world, and want to come back home. That group is 10 to 15 percent of a population.
He then noted that the U.S. Department of Labor has forecasted skill shortages in 2020, a mere six years away, of 26 percent in high skill areas, 12 percent entry level skills, and 62 percent in certified technical and skilled trades.
The people who are going to stay in or around a given area and the 62 percent shortage of skilled workers is the matchup Wells County needs to pay attention to, he said. “We need to find a way to put those two together.”
Hence his challenge to find individuals who need training.
He concluded with a five-point cycle. An enhanced workforce leads to better jobs, which leads to better housing and retail opportunities, which leads to a stronger tax base. That, in turn, leads to superior facilities and quality of life. Completing the cycle, that leads to an enhanced workforce.