Whitley County and Columbia City have the right frame of mind when it comes to boosting their communities: market your low unemployment rate to areas with high unemployment rates.
It’s a concept that takes little effort in the web-connected world we live in today — and it could prove effective.
This isn’t the first time northeast Indiana communities have looked outside the state’s borders to attract the job talent they need.
Back in the 1940s, Claude Lane, who managed Newman Foundry in Kendallville and Lane Foundry in Lisbon, sent emissaries to Kentucky to find workers, according to “150 Years — Kendallville, Indiana,” by KPC Media Group President Terry Housholder. A number of former coal miners took the foundry jobs.
In the 1980s and early 1990s, the manufacturing industry in and around Ligonier needed workers. The jobs available were “not very highly paid,” said current Ligonier Mayor Patty Fisel.
The city already had a large Hispanic population, in large part due to a number of people from Mexico and other Latin American countries migrating to northeast Indiana to work as laborers on tomato farms, she said.
When local factories needed more workers, a sign was erected at the border of Texas and Mexico saying, “Come to Ligonier,” said Fisel.
“I wasn’t around (as mayor) when it happened, but I’ve seen the pictures of the sign,” she said. “They came and came.”
In 2008, northeast Indiana’s manufacturers suffered a serious blow with the financial crisis. The unemployment rate rose considerably.
But now, we are on the brink of full employment. We need workers — skilled, disciplined workers. We needed them yesterday.
In and around Ligonier, industries are asking for 460 people, Fisel said.
“They say, ‘If you can count to five, we’ll hire you,’” she said. “That means Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday Friday. That means show up.”
Whitley County should be commended for reaching past its borders and trying to attract talent from outside the region. By doing so, it could benefit other counties in the region, as well.
“In general, we like to work together as a region,” said Katie Dewitt, Whitley County Economic Development Corp. executive director. “Out of courtesy, we didn’t want to have a campaign in Indiana. We’re all trying to grow. If northeast Indiana is successful, then we will be successful.”
Indiana’s unemployment rate in May was at 3.2 percent, but many of the counties in northeast Indiana have unemployment rates well below that.
By comparison, Ohio’s rate is 5 percent, Michigan and Illinois are at 4.7 percent and Kentucky is at 5.1 percent.
Indiana is currently 14th on the list of all 50 states from lowest to highest unemployment rates. The entire nation needs workers. New Mexico has the highest unemployment rate at 6.7 percent. That sounds quite a bit higher than 1.9 percent, until you consider 6 percent used to be considered “full employment.”
Perhaps marketing outside our state borders isn’t enough. Maybe it’s time to erect a sign on the borders or a virtual sign across the internet that says, “Come here skilled workers, we have jobs.”