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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Study Shows
Northern/Upstate Colorado Area Has Significant Labor Resources to Meet the Needs of New and
Expanding Business
Date: December 4, 2007
Contact:
Larry Burkhardt, Upstate Colorado Economic
Development
(970) 356-4565
Maury Dobbie, Northern
Colorado Economic Development
Corporation
(970) 667-0905
A study funded by a broad
local partnership shows that the Northern/Upstate Colorado area can respond to
the primary need of new or expanding businesses—that being available workers.
A recently-completed Labor Availability Report concludes that a
significant number of individuals within the study area are qualified and are
willing to accept better jobs. The study
defines these workers as “underemployed.”
Partners involved with the
project include:
•
State of Colorado Office of Workforce Development
•
Upstate Colorado Economic Development
•
Northern
Colorado Economic
Development Corporation
•
City of Greeley
•
City of Fort Collins
•
City of Loveland
•
Employment
Services of Weld County
•
Larimer County Workforce Center
•
Colorado State University
•
University of Northern Colorado
The Report, commissioned by
the partnership and completed by The Pathfinders, represents the first time that this type of labor information has been available, and
demonstrates the extent of regional cooperation in place for the purposes of stimulating economic development.
Project costs were shared by the partners, with the State of Colorado
Office of Workforce Development providing an $8,000 seed grant in support of
the Report.
The Report assessed the
workforce in an area within a 30-mile radius from the intersection of US Highway 34 and Interstate 25. The area, or “laborshed,” includes major
portions of Weld, Larimer and Boulder Counties, as well as minor portions of Adams and Broomfield Counties. The sample area has a
population of approximately 685,800, and a civilian labor force of
approximately 383,900.
The Report, which included
a statistically-valid telephone sample of area residents, concludes that the
area has a pool of 15,800 unemployed persons actively seeking work, and an
additional 24,800 workers who are currently employed and have indicated an
interest in changing jobs. In addition,
the Report found that 5,300 people, neither employed nor seeking work, might
re-enter the workforce for the right position.
About 25% of the available
workforce would take a new job for $13.99 per hour or less. The 25% most qualified and experienced workers
will command more than $26.51 per hour.
“Given the competitive
nature of economic development, we are pleased with the regional cooperation
that made this Report possible. It is a
significant marketing tool that is available in only a relatively few communities
across the country. Its findings will go
a long way toward defining our region to employers interested in a Colorado business
location,” said Larry Burkhardt, President/CEO of Upstate Colorado Economic
Development.”
“We believe
that if most people are given an opportunity to better themselves and their
families, they will take advantage of opportunities to retrain and
reskill. Going forward, we are bringing together all organizations that
can reskill people alongside primary employers. We’re listening to those
employers and what their needs are, then the key is to have a job waiting for
the person who has been retrained. We’re taking a common-sense and
practical approach to building wealth in our communities one family at a time”, stated Maury Dobbie, President/CEO
of Northern Colorado Economic Development Corporation, one of the partners in
the underemployment study.
In addition to surveying
local residents, The Pathfinders conducted interviews with nineteen local
employers with a combined employment of over 25,000 workers. The employers’ responses to the interview
questions, which focused on skills, availability, productivity, turnover
and other factors, indicate an overall favorable evaluation of the local labor
pool.
The Pathfinders is a
Dallas-based consulting firm that has completed similar studies for more than
100 communities around the country in the past several years.
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