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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Ref. 2499 August 24, 2005 North Iowa’s Regional Economic Groups Announce Results of North Iowa Laborshed and Cluster Analysis Studies Few things are more important for the quality of life in North Iowa than progressive economic development. North Iowa’s key economic development stakeholders have come together to conduct two important studies – a regional Laborshed and a regional Industry Cluster Analysis. Eleven North Iowa economic groups worked with North Iowa Area Community College and Iowa Workforce Development (IWD) to complete the studies and are now pleased to share the results with North Iowa. "The significance of these two studies is found in both the content derived from the analyses and, perhaps more importantly, the willingness of economic development organizations to work together on a regional basis to advance our prospects for a better quality of life," Dr. Michael Morrison, NIACC president, said. "Hats off to our economic development and business partners for working together for a common goal. Working together is working smarter." Iowa’s Laborshed studies provide the North Central Iowa region and communities within the region the ability to document and illustrate the characteristics of their labor force. Information found in the Laborshed report consists of commuting patterns, current and desired wages/salaries, available labor, workforce skills and employment numbers/percentages by industry in the Laborshed area. As part of the full-fledged regional report, there are also 12 individual community reports for Belmond, Britt, Charles City, Clear Lake, Forest City, Garner, Hampton, Lake Mills, Mason City, New Hampton, Northwood and Osage. These communities will be able to use their local reports as well as the North Iowa regional report information. The Laborshed study shows that 82.6 percent of people in the region are employed, 5.9 percent are unemployed, 5.9 percent are homemakers and 5.6 percent are retired. Of the homemakers, 33.1 percent are willing to re-enter the workforce. Of the retirees, 15 percent are willing to re-enter the workforce. Laborshed results also show that 56.7 percent of individuals in the region would be interested in operating their own business, and 62.3 percent of people in the area have some education/training beyond high school. -more- The industry composition of North Central Iowa, according to the Laborshed, is 21.6 percent manufacturing, 15.4 percent health care and social services, 11.6 percent wholesale and retail and 10.8 percent education. "By performing Laborshed studies through a regional effort, communities are able to share in the expense associated with the studies (economy of scale). The North Central Iowa Regional Study is comprised of 2,409 surveys which gives the region a wealth of information when it comes to identifying the strengths of the labor force," Paula Nissen, IWD project manager, said. Industry cluster analysis shows the competitive advantage of the North Iowa region. It allows businesses, economic developers, researchers and others to identify industries that are geographically concentrated, of a similar nature and make use of related buyers, suppliers, infrastructure and workforce. By identifying these industries, recruitment efforts may be focused on those companies that complement existing businesses to capitalize on local assets such as natural resources, knowledge base and workforce. The Industry Cluster Analysis provides the North Central Iowa Growth Partnership area a foundation from which to begin building targeted industry clusters that will increase the wealth of the region. According to the study, the region should focus economic recruitment, retention and growth efforts on five core industry clusters – motor driven products, heavy machinery manufacturing, construction materials, chemical production and plastics manufacturing. Industry Cluster Analysis also recommends that the region use clusters as a context for designing education/training programs, promote entrepreneurial enterprise growth and examine structural infrastructure before embarking on industry recruitment opportunities. "This study helps reveal some underlying strengths in the North Central Iowa regional economy and gives developers more opportunities to support key existing industries," Jeff Nall, IWD Policy and Information Division administrator, said. "The information can also be used to focus business recruitment and other efforts, including education and training, where they’ll do the most good." The North Iowa Laborshed and Cluster Analysis are a result of the cooperative effort between many economic development groups. The groups of North Central Iowa that partnered on these studies include Charles City Area Development Corporation, Clear Lake Economic Development Corporation, Forest City Economic Development, Franklin County Development Association, Hancock County Development, Lake Mills Chamber Development Corporation, Mason City Economic Development Corporation, Mitchell County -more- Economic Development Committee, New Hampton Economic Development Corporation, North Iowa Area Community College, Winn-Worth Betco and Wright County Development Corporation. "As a North Iowa region we now have two more excellent economic development tools to use for the betterment of our existing industry base as well as to help us recruit the appropriate types of businesses to North Iowa," Terry Schumaker, NIACC and IWD economic development director, said. "The collaborative effort of the economic development groups of North Iowa both financially and time-wise was the key component in making these regional studies a reality. NIACC was pleased to have the opportunity to lead and coordinate the overall effort." The Laborshed and Cluster Analysis studies for North Central Iowa were sponsored in partnership with Alliant Energy, Butler County REC, Iowa Telecom, Iowa Workforce Development, MidAmerican Energy, NIACC and Prairie Energy Cooperative on behalf of the cities of Britt and Garner. ##### |
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